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In the Forum: Musical Discussions
In the Thread: ... and some Bruckner buzz
Post Subject: B9, Jochum, Staatskapelle Dresden, 1982, LPPosted by Paul S on: 12/19/2024
From the start this recording sounds to me as though Jochum is "accommodating" his orchestra. While the rendering is deft in terms of promoting the main themes, much of the special-to-Bruckner alternate themes, complex groupings and chromatics are subdued here, seemingly in the interests of getting the recording done in as few takes as possible, or perhaps I am reading into it and this is just the way Jochum hears the symphony, himself. Not to denegrate the playing, which is good enough, rather it is not Giulini/VPO. I had listened to 1/2 of this Adagio with headphones before I ordered the LP, and I liked the way the strings took the lead so decisively, in a spare, "modern" way. Too bad it did not come across as well via my big rig. For all we might suppose, the LP here has much less "dynamic range" than the Giulini DG CD. Again, I think this has more to do with the interpretation than the recording, per se, but I thought I'd mention it. If this is David Hurwitz' favorite B9, I wonder why. I should listen to him (and this recording) again. I am still a long way from understanding this symphony, but I have 4 other versions of B9 that I like at least as well as this one. The LP is an original from Angel (EMI), with good surfaces.
Paul SRerurn to Romy the Cat's Site