COMPOSERS: Bruckner
LABELS: IMP
WORKS: Symphony No. 4 in E flat (Romantic)
PERFORMER: Hallé Orchestra/Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
CATALOGUE NO: PCD 1059 DDD
Here we have two performances of the same symphony which, although they differ by a mere 30 seconds in total playing times of 68 minutes, seem poles apart in most aspects. Although they purport to be the 1878/1880 versions, both Barenboim and Skrowaczewski
add drum rolls, cymbal clashes
and (in Skrowaczewski’s case) even an extra four bars. Barenboim’s version is intensely musical but
not for the purist, for he pulls
the tempi around mercilessly
and changes the score’s original dynamics. Though a self-indulgent reading, it is nevertheless
gloriously played by the Berlin Philharmonic. The strings have a sumptuous lustre in tone, the woodwind solos are refined to perfection with some beautifully shaped nuances, and the brass chorus blazes away throughout.
Though the Hallé strings lack
the BPO’s sheen and Skrowaczewski encourages portamenti rather liberally, their performance is equally committed. At times he takes even more liberties than Barenboim, as in the clarinet solo
in the rather rushed Scherzo, and
his tempo of the Trio completely contradicts Bruckner’s instruction
in the score: ‘in no way dragging’. Overall, Barenboim tends to highlight the symphony’s structure whilst Skrowaczewski presents a more seamless account. The booklet
for the Hallé disc contains some
bizarre errors: ‘Joseph Bruckner’ (why the middle name?) left ‘his 19th symphony unfinished’.
Can we hope to hear those ten
unheard symphonies?
Christopher Fifield