Composer: Anton Bruckner, Richard Wagner
Orchestra: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Conductor: Andris Nelsons
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalogue: 4797577
Release: 2018
Size: 2.45 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Wagner: Lohengrin
01. Prelude To Act I
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in Eb Major ‘Romantic’
02. 1. Bewegt, nicht zu schnell
03. 2. Andante quasi allegretto
04. 3. Scherzo (Bewegt) – Trio (Nicht zu schnell. Keinesfalls schleppend)
05. 4. Finale (Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell)
Recordings of Anton Bruckner’s symphonies have increasingly acquired an air of mystery and difficulty due to their extraordinary length, harmonic complexity, and the vagaries surrounding the multiple versions and various published editions, which conductors champion for different reasons. Yet Andris Nelsons seems to have taken the path of least resistance with his live recording of the Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, “Romantic,” which he presents with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in a proudly conventional reading. Not only is the 1878/1880 version one of the most widely accepted and most frequently performed and recorded, Nelsons also serves up a rather traditional interpretation that harks back to mid-20th century standards. To be sure, Nelsons is committed, consistent, and coherent, and his choices of tempos and dynamics are convincing, though he shows no interest in observing period practices or re-creating the techniques and sonorities of Bruckner’s day. Instead, Nelsons delivers a “Romantic” that more closely resembles models set by Klemperer, Jochum, Wand, Tennstedt, and other traditional Brucknerians. The inclusion of Richard Wagner’s Prelude to Act I from Lohengrin provides a reminder of Bruckner’s unwanted role in the “War of the Romantics,” though Nelsons appears to have made this pairing of composers a continuing feature of his Bruckner recordings. This album, and Nelsons’ 2017 release of the Symphony No. 3 in D minor with the Overture to Tannhäuser, are part of a projected series for Deutsche Grammophon that promises to be one of the most popular of mainstream Bruckner cycles.
2018 will be branded as “Gewandhausjahr”: Gewandhausorchester celebrates its 275th birthday and the inauguration of Andris Nelsons as new Gewandhauskapellmeister.
39 year-old conductor Andris Nelsons takes on the prestigious position as the 21st Gewandhauskapellmeister, kicking-off this new era with concerts during the Festival in Leipzig from 19 February to 11 March 2018.
On this occasion Deutsche Grammophon will release the next two Bruckner Symphonies with Andris and his new orchestra. Andris has already successfully embarked on a journey exploring the sound world of Anton Bruckner’s iconic symphony cycle with the already much acclaimed recording of Symphony No. 3 – released in May 2017.
Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony is known as his “Romantic” Symphony. Bruckner himself chose this term after starting work on it in January 1874. “The music gives us an insight into Bruckner’s psyche and allows us to sense what he was feeling and thinking at the time of the work’s composition,” says Nelsons, and there is no denying that the symphony’s musical language is unusually personal and intimate.”
Andris Nelsons brings youthful energy, fluidity and rhythmic impulse, while still leaving room for Bruckner’s music’s monumental sound blocks that gives these works a completely new flavour.
By including selected instrumental works by Wagner in the Bruckner Symphony Cycle, his idea is to demonstrate the influences but more importantly their differences, for clearly the two men could not have been more disparate in character.
This second ambitious long-term recording project is consciously combined with the production of DG’s first complete Shostakovich cycle that Andris Nelsons is recording with the Boston Symphony Orchestra which has already been awarded with two Grammys as well as various other awards.