Do British Orchestras 'Get' Bruckner?

[Richard Tarleton]

There is so little Bruckner played in Cardiff and Swansea that one is grateful for anything but having said that I've heard two fine B7s in 2011 played by Welsh orchestras - the Orchestra of WNO under Lothar Koenigs (they do play Wagner fairly regularly) and BBC NOW under Kazushi Ono - new to me but an impressive CV, and he's the first I've seen since a younger Haitink to conduct it without a score. It was a magnificent performance (I've heard many B7s since my first 40 years ago).

I cut my Bruckner teeth with Haitink and the LPO in the 1970s - they were a fine Bruckner orchestra then. My greatest live Bruckner experiences in recent years have been with Haitink and the LSO, Concertegebouw and CSO....I was a little underwhelmed by an LSO B6 in the Barbican with Davis a few years back........
I was introduced to Bruckner by someone who'd heard Furtwangler conduct 7 in Vienna around 1951, so perhaps everything's relative.

[Mahlerei]

Jiri and the BBCSO did a memorable Bruckner 9th at the Proms a few years back. Was one of the highlights of the season for me.

[Brassbandmaestro]

Was it the 5th that Rattle did with the LSO recently?

[Petrushka]

Was it the 5th that Rattle did with the LSO recently?

Think it was the 9th, BBM, preceded by the Messiaen Et Exspecto... I caught that on the radio and thought it was definitely a case of 'work in progress'.

Yes, I've heard Rattle, Wand, Tennstedt and Haitink with British orchestras at the Proms and elsewhere and, like many of the examples given, they were all very fine without my thinking that the players were not really into the idiom. Jayne's example of Petrenko highlights the hard work that conductors undertake in endeavouring to capture the right sound.

Perhaps I'm all wrong about this but I felt it instantly many years ago when I heard the Klemperer recording of the Bruckner 6 and it didn't sound right at all. I felt it again last night with the LSO/Haitink 4th.

[Alison]

British orchestras can't seem to produce what I think of as the brown and gold sounds ideal for Bruckner.

However much I admire the LSO stainless steel comes to mind.

Perhaps the Philharmonia would have the nod in Bruckner: who to conduct them though ?

The other side of the coin is that I don't much care for Tchaikovsky or DSCH in Berlin or Vienna.

But then these generalisations can get in the way a bit.

I treasure the LSO/Haitink Fourth.

[ardcarp]

It would be like foreign orchestras been forbidden to attempt British music because "they just don't get it". Thus leads the way to xenophobia, which would not be good skills...

I don't necessarily think it's xenophobic to suggest that national characteristics can best be captured by denizens of the nation itself. Of course the BPO should have a crack at Elgar, but it could be argued that a London orchestra might have the edge. Ditto Russian orchestras with Tchaik (esp the brass).

[Barbirollians]

I suggest getting Barbirolli's Halle Bruckner 7-9 on BBC legends . The Eighth, in particular ,is stupendous and by far my favourite recording of the piece.

[Alison]

Sadly I feel Bruckner simply requires much better playing than on that Barbirolli Eighth.

Tennstedt is often inspired too in the Eighth but again to my ears the playing lacks real quality.

[Petrushka]

British orchestras can't seem to produce what I think of as the brown and gold sounds ideal for Bruckner.

However much I admire the LSO stainless steel comes to mind.

Perhaps the Philharmonia would have the nod in Bruckner: who to conduct them though ?

The other side of the coin is that I don't much care for Tchaikovsky or DSCH in Berlin or Vienna.

But then these generalisations can get in the way a bit.

I treasure the LSO/Haitink Fourth.

'Brown and gold' and 'stainless steel', yes, that's very well put and is pretty much what I'm driving at. I treasure the LSO/Haitink 4th as well, it's a great performance wonderfully played, no question, except ...

[Alison]

On seeing the DSCH15 and Bruckner 4 Haitink releases my first impulse was to wish the orchestras
were reversed.

Jayne has probably made a very good point about our not-conducive-to Bruckner concert halls.