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Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896)
Symphony No. 7 in E (1881-3, ed. Haas) ((i) Allegro moderato
[21:04] (ii) Adagio: Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam
[23:28] (iii) Scherzo: Sehr schnell – Trio: Etwas langsamer
[10:06] (iv) Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht schnell [12:20])
Aarhus
Symphony Orchestra/James Loughran
rec. live, Aarhus Cathedral, Denmark, 28 April 2005. DDD DANACORD
DACOCD655 [67:28]
Scottish-born
James Loughran became well-known when he took over as principal
conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in 1971 after the death
of Sir John Barbirolli. In Mancunian terms this was roughly
the equivalent of inheriting Bobby Charlton's shirt or the
task that someone will have when Sir Alex Ferguson eventually
retires. Despite having an impossible act to follow, my perception
is that his tenure was generally well-regarded and I
recall with some fondness seeing him conduct the Hallé many
times during the mid- and late-1970s. Together, they provided
my personal introduction to the music of Austrian composer
Anton Bruckner with fine renditions of the 4th and 8th symphonies
which I can still recall some thirty years later. After
his departure from the Hallé in 1979 Loughran initially went
to Bamberg and much more recently he did a stint as principal
conductor of the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra. His discography
is not extensive and consists mainly of some Classics for
Pleasure discs from the Hallé years - including a well-regarded Brahms
symphony cycle which is still available - and some recent
issues on the Danacord label.
As
far I as can tell, this disc seems to represent Loughran's
first recorded Bruckner and is derived from a single concert
given in Aarhus in April 2005. The conductor's approach to
Bruckner is much as I remember it - straightforward and unfussy.
Tempi are middle of the road and remain steady. The
Aarhus orchestra are committed and I am sure I would have
enjoyed this well enough had I been there. But I am afraid
the positives end there.
My immediate previous hearing of
this work, just a few weeks ago, was Kurt Masur's performance
at the Proms. I appreciated that considerably more than Jim
Pritchard who reviewed the
concert for Seen and Heard. I feel Masur had more to say
about the work than Loughran and his rendition simply got
better as it went along. If I was surprised by Masur’s
rather low-key emotional approach to the slow movement, his
scherzo bounced along more effectively than I have heard
it before and his finale was beautifully sprung rhythmically,
with magnificent punctuating brass chorales. Loughran's performance
was the reverse - a good start with some very fine string
tone in the first movement but thereafter failing to scale
the heights. At the climax of the slow movement Loughran
takes the controversial cymbal clash but it sounds very artificial
here - almost as though someone had dropped something.
In the finale the Aarhus orchestra sound quite stretched
and, overall, the playing of Masur's combination of two orchestras
- the London Philharmonic
and French National, seemed considerably superior to me most of
the time. The Royal Albert Hall is also probably a much better venue
for performing Bruckner than Aarhus cathedral, and I have some reservations
about the very reverberant recording. The presence of an audience is
frequently noticeable, pauses for coughing between movements are retained and
there are a few extraneous noises here and there. Given these features
and that this clearly is a real live performance - as opposed to a patched
up multiple - it seems perverse even to me, no fan of applause on disc,
to exclude this at the end.
Of
course, one can't buy Masur's Proms performance on disc,
at least not yet although it might warrant a BBC Legends
issue in the future. He recorded the whole canon in Leipzig many
years back but I have yet to hear those readings. The question
for the record buyer is how does Loughran’s compare against
well established alternative versions? The answer is, I am
afraid, not well. This is a full-price offering and there
are readings from great Brucknerians such as Karajan and Tintner available
at mid- and bargain price respectively. If you want the work
performed live then there is Giulini’s available
on BBC Legends and Günter Wand’s Berlin version to consider.
My own favourite, Haitink's later Concertgebouw reading from
1978 is missing from the catalogue at the moment but will
surely return. All of these discs would seem to be a substantially
better bet than Loughran’s. Ultimately, his Bruckner now
seems to me a bit plain-spun, and transitions which seem
quite magical in the hands of others such as Karajan show
the joins.
Not bad but not competitive either.
Patrick
C Waller
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