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10/22/2024
“Bruckner: From the Archives Volume 5”
Anton Bruckner: Symphony n° 6 in A major, WAB 106 (1881, Nowak edition) [1] – Te Deum, WAB 45 [2] – Symphony n° 7 in E major, WAB 107 (1884/85, Nowak edition) [3]
NDR Symphony Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi (conductor) [1]; Wilma Lipp (soprano), Elisabeth Höngen (mezzo), Nicolai Gedda (tenor), Walter Kreppel (bass), Vienna Singverein, Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan (conductor) [2]; South German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hans Müller‑Kray (conductor) [3]
Live recording: Musikhalle, Hamburg, Germany (NDR aircheck, November 18, 1961) [1]; Vienna Festival, Vienna Musikverein, Austria (ÖRF aircheck, May 26, 1962) [2]; Sendesaal Villa Berg, Stuttgart, Germany (SDR aircheck, September 22, 1955) [3] – 142’28
Somm Recordings – Ariadne 5033-2
 
Dohnányi’s Bruckner Sixth in the latest installment of Somm’s Bruckner series is much like his Fifth in the last issue: the conductor’s commitment and musicality is let down by some scrappy playing, except here the sound is mono (and rather dull mono at that) rather than stereo. The Hamburg Radio Orchestra is certainly competent, but not virtuosic or resplendent, and some rough intonation. Certainly, in the slow movement, which to my ears, and unusually for Bruckner, can seem a touch maudlin, Dohnányi is heartfelt and compelling, and the “Scherzo”, not the composer’s most inspired effort in a folksy vein, has an impressive and effective seriousness of purpose. The “Finale”, however, is the movement most often criticized, as lacking in focus and, at times, inappropriately jaunty. Yes, the coda is too abrupt for maximum impact, but, otherwise, I think this view sells short the movement’s fertility and variety of melodic inspiration, with more joy than in the rest of the work. Dohnányi’s reading is most impressive here; rather than just trying to get through it, he brings deep feeling, with flexible tempos and moving expressive contrasts. But the underwhelming playing remains a liability. Bruckner loses too much needed warmth with orchestral roughness.
In the Te Deum, the Vienna Philharmonic reminds us what a difference a great orchestra makes in this music. It doesn’t hurt that players are led here by Herbert von Karajan on a very good day: his characteristic sense of grandeur and careful terracing of dynamics are fully in evidence, but with an occasional dose of near‑ferocity that can be very moving. As for the singing, however, the liner note casts the soloists’ liberal scooping and wobbling as “operatic,” and while it’s not without charm, I don’t like this much sentimentality in Bruckner, nor do I agree with the notes’ suggestion that this is in keeping with Karajan’s overall view of the piece. The Vienna Singverein is rather messy too, and in the same stylistic vein. A stereo broadcast from some ten years later finds Karajan leading the same orchestra with the more polished Vienna State Opera Chorus.
We finally arrive in Stuttgart for the Seventh Symphony, played by a radio orchestra that is not quite the Vienna Philharmonic, but it is somewhat better than the NDR Orchestra as heard in the Sixth; the mono sound is also warmer and a bit more open. I’m not sure what to make of conductor Hans Müller‑Kray’s view of the piece. The first movement is volatile, probably too much so, with enough unsubtle rubato and strong expressive contrasts as to become episodic. Some moments work, like an exceptionally delicate end to the exposition section; some descend into a Beethovenian bluffness that is out of place in this essentially lyrical movement. The slow movement similarly veers between the touching and the foursquare or choppy. This is not a great Seventh, but it is not a dull or predictable one, and, perhaps, that counts for something in a work lacks something in dramatic contrast and tends to lose inspiration in its last two movements.
This Somm series has settled comfortably into a rut. As in the last installment, everything here is respectable or interesting, and sometimes more than that, but nothing is uniquely memorable and too little even distinctive. There must be more real hidden gems among archival broadcasts than the producers have settled on here.
Samuel Wigutow
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