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Best Bruckner (Conductors)

Thanks all. Having listened to many since posting, I totally get Celibidache. Or as Barry notes, Celibibibidache.
 
The Karajan BPO cycle 192kHz on Qobuz and doubtless elsewhere is pretty impressive. The BPO strings and brass, majestic.
 
Unfortunately my time moves at a swifter pace than Celibidache's and I don't get him at all. The tunes dissipate into a mere succession of notes. no thanks.
 
I like hearing recordings of an older generation, which are often faster and more volatile than performances became in the 60s onwards. I think the same is true of Brahms as it is Bruckner, that performances have tended to become steadier and slower (leading to the so-called 'cathedrals in sound' approach of say Giulini and Wand in Bruckner - nothing wrong with them, they're magnificent - and some pretty turgid Brahms). But it's interesting by way of contrast hearing how Furtwangler, Abendroth, Jochum and others approach Bruckner. And personally I adore the EMI Schuricht 8 - with those baleful sounding VPO oboes and clarinets.
 
The VPO are really stunning for Bruckner whoever wields the baton. Giulini’s 9th is much lauded and I like it but Harnoncourt tears it up and throws out protostravinsky. Thrilling stuff.

I’ve purposely left Wand, Furtwängler and Jochum until last for this Bruckner marathon.
 
For a complete set Blomstedt with the Gewandhaus, in my opinion, takes some beating (but is not on Qobuz, and the big white box of SACDs that I have seems to be deleted - label was Querstand). His 3-movement 9th with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester at the 2010 Proms, heard from the choir seats, was one of the finest concerts I have ever attended and is on Youtube.

Apart from that... each symphony seems to me to fare best in the hands of a different conductor - or conductors. Bruckner, more than most symphonists, can cope with very different approaches and still make sense. My favourites (I don't believe in "best"; dates given are recording dates, not necessarily the year of issue):

00,1,0 ...don't know (I haven't heard enough different recordings)
2 Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra - on Qobuz
3 (1877 version, the one that makes sense) Haitink, VPO 1988 - on Qobuz
4 Jochum, BPO 1965 - on Qobuz

5 Furtwangler, BPO 1942 - the story of this recording is fascinating and the Testament remastering sounds astonishingly good, but be aware that it has been "corrected" to A440 pitch, which did not apply in Berlin in 1942 and which has slightly altered the tempi; the performance was likely to have been at ~A445 (so I've un-corrected it with Audacity); the DGG (Furtwangler Wartime Recordings Vol.9) and Russian Disc remasterings are on Qobuz
also Venzago, Tapiola Sinfonietta 2014 - on Qobuz

6 Dausgaard, Bergen PO 2020; Norrington, RSO Stuttgart 2007 (51 minutes), Solti, CSO 1979 (61 minutes)
7 no favourite
8 Karajan, VPO 1988; Barbirolli, Hallé 1970 (BBC Legends) - I can find neither of these on Qobuz, astonishingly in the case of the Karajan
and Furtwangler, BPO 15/3/1949 (rather than 14/3/1949) - complete with bronchial audience... but among Furtwangler recordings, this is the one for me; it's riveting (the Audite label has the best remastering, but the Music and Arts one on Qobuz is OK - monochrome cover, release date of 1 April 2011 identifies it)

9 ...depends whether you want the completion (I usually do) ...and if so, which completion (only Carragan gets it musically right - SPCM are just musicologists) ...and having established that, which version of which completion: Carragan 1983 was in my opinion never improved upon, and there is only one recording: Talmi, Olso PO 1985
without the completion, Blomstedt as above via Youtube, or Jochum, Bavarian RSO 1984 is on Qobuz in the complete DGG set
 
alanbeeb said:
Any of Gunter Wand's recordings with the NDR SO. Especially the 8th & 9th Live from Lubeck Cathedral.
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Wand seems to have got on really well with this orchestra - his 6th from Hamburg is a favourite of mine, at least among mainstream interpreters.

On Qobuz, and on RCA RD 60061, probably in an Oxfam shop near you!

PS I expect to play Nanut's 8th tonight - it was a first hearing for the 8th of Welser-Möst and the GMJO yesterday, and it impressed me very much.
 
alanbeeb said:
Unfortunately my time moves at a swifter pace than Celibidache's and I don't get him at all. The tunes dissipate into a mere succession of notes. no thanks.
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Not bad in the 6th, where only the slow movement (which can take it) is really slow... but in general, like you, I can do without him.
 
Thanks. I’m Qobuzzing DG Jochum but the complete Dresden set is only £16 presently at Amazon UK so I’ve bought that too.
 
5 - Chailly, Maazel, Wand (I cannot understand why the Sinopoli gets lauded so much - not for me)
6 - Klemperer
7 - Chailly, Blomstedt, Wand
8 - Karajan (1957, greatly preferable to the 1988 IMO)
 
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