Bruch: Symphonies 1-3, Concerto for 2 Pianos
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Conductor: James ConlonConductor: Antal Dorati
Orchestra: Gürzenich-Orchester Köln
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Nathan Twining
Performer: Martin Berkofsky
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2009-03-24
Music Label: EMI Classics
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Symphony No.1, in E flat, Op. 28: 1. Allegro maestoso
- Symphony No.1, in E flat, Op. 28: 2. Scherzo: Presto
- Symphony No.1, in E flat, Op. 28: 3. Quasi Fantasia: Grave
- Symphony No.1, in E flat, Op. 28: 4. Finale: Allegro guerriero
- Symphony No. 2 in F minor, Op. 36: 1. Allegro passionato, ma un poco maestoso
- Symphony No. 2 in F minor, Op. 36: 2. Adagio ma non troppo
- Symphony No. 2 in F minor, Op. 36: 3. Allegro molto tranquillo
- Symphony No.3, in E major Op. 51: 1. Andante sostenuto - Allegro molto vivace - Adagio ma non troppo - Allegro molto
- Symphony No.3, in E major Op. 51: 2. Adagio: Adagio ma non troppo
- Symphony No.3, in E major Op. 51: 3. Scherzo: Vivace
- Symphony No.3, in E major Op. 51: 4. Finale: Allegro ma non troppo
- Concerto for 2 Pianos & Orchestra, Op. 88a (version of 'Concerto for clarinet & viola'): 1. Andante sostenuto
- Concerto for 2 Pianos & Orchestra, Op. 88a (version of 'Concerto for clarinet & viola'): 2. Andante con moto - Allegro
- Concerto for 2 Pianos & Orchestra, Op. 88a (version of 'Concerto for clarinet & viola'): 3. Adagio ma non troppo
- Concerto for 2 Pianos & Orchestra, Op. 88a (version of 'Concerto for clarinet & viola'): 4. Andante - Allegro
- Pieces (6), for piano, Op. 12: No. 1 in B flat: Andante sostenuto
- Pieces (6), for piano, Op. 12: No. 2 in G minor: Andante con moto (Sehr einfach)
- Pieces (6), for piano, Op. 12: No. 3 Impromptu in G: Allegretto
- Pieces (6), for piano, Op. 12: No. 4 in D minor: Moderato
- Pieces (6), for piano, Op. 12: No. 5 Walzer in F sharp: Grazioso
- Pieces (6), for piano, Op. 12: No. 6 in E: Andante con larghezza
- Pieces (2), for piano, Op. 14: No. 1 Romanze in G: Andante molto cantabile
- Pieces (2), for piano, Op. 14: No. 2: Fantasiestück in C minor: Allegro molto
Music reviews of Bruch: Symphonies 1-3, Concerto for 2 Pianos
Music Review: The Symphonies are neglected masterpieces - but Conlon doesn't do them full justice
Rating: 3 Stars
I realized only recently the beauty of Bruch's Symphonies. A chance encounter with the symphonies of Fibich (Fibich: Symphony No. 1 in F major, Op. 17; The Tempest, Op.46 and Zdenek Fibich: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3) raised the question of what is it that makes it the music of a "minor" composer, as opposed to the "major" ones, whose pantheon (limiting myself to the Romantic symphony in the Austro-German area) includes Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Bruckner, Brahms. And the "working hypothesis" was that, as enjoyable as it was, it never gave you the impression that you hadn't heard it before. That sent me back to Bruch's symphonies, which on initial (and obviously superficial) hearing had failed to leave a lasting impression when I acquired Masur's set (recorded between 1983 and 1988) when it came out on CD in the late 1980s (Bruch: The 3 Symphonies, Swedish Dances (Schwedische Tanze)).
Rehearing these symphonies, I now feel like turning my formula around: it may not give you the impression that you haven't heard it before, but it is highly enjoyable nonetheless (for another example, see my review of Robert Volkmann: Complete Orchestral Works). In fact, I've enjoyed them so much that I've purchased the study scores, recently reissued, after possibly more than a century of unavailability, by an enterprising German publisher specialized in rare scores, Musikproduktion Höflich.
Sure, one can hear in the symphonies of Bruch echoes of Schubert (the canter rhythms of the 1st Symphony's finale), Mendelssohn (scherzo of 1, finale of 2), Bruckner (Scherzo of 3), Schumann (the brooding to bouncy 1st movement of the 1st, the sweeping finale of the 3rd), Brahms (slow movement of the 3rd). Composed in 1868, 1870 and 1883/1886, his symphonies were certainly not forward-looking in their own time. But viewed from today, one can enjoy them for what they offer, not reject them for what they don't. Forget the "what does it recall" game: Bruch's Symphonies offer a wealth of melodies, a romantic sweep and turbulence that makes them easily equal to Schumann's or Mendelssohn's.
These recordings by James Conlon, made in 1992 and 1993, come in direct competition with Masur's, which have also been reissued on a budget series, Bruch: The Complete Symphonies. Some factors would make Conlon's preferable. First and foremost, the sonics. Masur's East-German recording sounds muffled, important details in the brass and woodwinds often go blurred. This "impressionist" approach and blunted edges do convey a fine and appropriate brooding mood in the wonderfully atmospheric first movement of the 1st Symphony; with his emphasis on woodwinds, Masur makes the scherzo of the 1st Symphony sound like Berlioz at his merriest, and Conlon, with his blaring brass, like Bizet. Still, there is more presence and bite in Conlon's recordings (even verging on bombast in the finale of the 2nd), and what you see is what you get.
The filler perhaps. Masur's original release came with Bruch's Swedish Dances - his not very convincing attempt to emulate Brahms' Hungarian Dances - and it now sells for less than the budget reissue. The latter replaces the dances by three tidbits for violin and orchestra, complementing the companion reissue of the Violin Concertos (Bruch: The Complete Violin Concertos). The reissue of Conlon has complemented the original set (Bruch: Symphonien 1-3) with the first recording (1973) of the newly rediscovered Concerto for two pianos (a late work from 1915, impressively powerful, entertainingly virtuosic, with interesting Bach references, but also full of Romantic clichés and not very memorable), and a few piano pieces reminiscent of Mendelssohn (op. 12) and Schumann (op. 14).
Then: interpretation. Unfortunately, I find that Colon doesn't really do full justice to the scores. His tempos are often slower, not only to Masur's, but to Bruch's metronome marks as well (the first Symphony bears none, but he wrote very detailed ones, section by section, in the 2nd and 3rd). Masur is usually faithful to these metronomes, in the 3rd (where he is usually bang on the mark) even more than the 2nd (where he varies, marginally). Now, I'm all for the interpreter's liberties with tempo (even if, with such seldom recorded works, there is a value to hearing exactly what the composer intended), as long as they work musically. Both Masur and Conlon take the finale of the 3rd significantly faster than Bruch's metronome - a good decision: with them, it is exhilarating - with Conlon even more, thanks to the added bite afforded by his sonics. Manfred Honeck takes it at Bruch's tempo, and it is sluggish and boring (see BRUCH: Symphony No. 3 / Suite on Russian Themes). When he whips his orchestra, Conlon offers glimpses of what it might have been (as in the 1st Symphony's scherzo).
But elsewhere his slower tempos solemnize and "brucknerize" the music. It can yield acceptable to convincing results in some movements or sections. The slow intro to the 3rd's first movement can take that kind of majestic unfolding, and so does the slow movement of the 2nd (although Conlon's "espress. appassionato" at 6:00 is all but passionate, and at 13:30, compared with Masur's 11:09, the movement may be dragged out too much for its own good). The slow movement of the 3rd Symphony sounds like Bruckner rather than (as with Masur) Brahms.
But there's a trade-off for this grandeur and solemnity and Bruckner reminiscences. Despite his blunted sonics, Masur's more urgent, dynamic and faithful tempos convey more of the symphonies' intense passion and sweep. In conformity with an interpretive approach thas taken hold somewhere in the 20Th Century, Conlon (like Honeck) also slams the breaks when comes the second and lyrical theme in the 1st movement of the 3rd Symphony. It stems the forward motion and unduly sentimentalizes the music. Bruch's metronome indicates an imperceptible slowdown which feels more like a relaxing of tension, and that's what Masur does, keeping the adrenalin running. In the 3rd Symphony's scherzo, Conlon's trudging quarter-note 120 (against Bruch's and Masur's 132) brings interesting Mahlerian overtones but also completely changes the character of the music, and not for the better. With Masur it is full of energetic bonhomie, with Conlon, peasant's clumsiness.
The ideal version would be Masur's interpretation and Conlon's sonics. In this imperfect world I think Masur still gives the better representation of theses works. Richard Hickox sadly died before he could complete the cycle, but interpretively (and at full price) he is very much in Conlon's vein: Bruch: Symphony No 1; Violin Concerto No 3 / London SO and Bruch: Symphony 3/Violin Concerto 2.
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