MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


 REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
CD: Crotchet AmazonUK


Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896)
Symphony No. 2 (1877 version; Nowak edition)
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra/Jaap van Zweden
rec. Studio of Netherlands Radio, Hilversum, 18-21 September 2007
EXTON EXCL-00014 [62:01] 
Experience Classicsonline

It is probably true that the Second Symphony is unlikely to achieve the fame and popularity of the later symphonies; then again, are these appropriate words to use in relation to Bruckner? Having said that, it is a substantial work lasting more than an hour with a magnificent sweep of concentration, a characteristic that is well delivered in this performance. What it lacks however is the epic scale that Bruckner created as he grew older and more experienced in symphonies such as the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth. It is true that he did return to the score later on and made revisions - van Zweden has opted for the 1877 version - but in truth these did not alter the symphony substantially. 

This performance was recorded in the studios of Netherlands Radio at Hilversum, and the sonic results are magnificent. An appropriately expansive acoustic allows the music to be heard in its full range of sonorities, with a rich orchestral resonance that is pleasing in its own right. A particular characteristic of this symphony, experienced in the first movement especially, is the use of pauses, out of which the music resumes after having subsided to silence. Van Zweden has a sensitive understanding of the challenges this poses, and his pacing and phrasing of the music is ever sensitive to its special qualities.

No sooner has the performance begun than one feels the choice of tempo to be just right in the first movement. For there is some magnificent playing from the cellos when they bring in their gloriously lyrical but strong principal theme. This music is extraordinary, a marvellous reconciliation of poetry with activity, and the performance is always effective and sensitively judged. The catalogue offers some distinguished competition, headed by Daniel Barenboim with the Berlin Philharmonic (Elatus 2564 60437-2), a live performance also of the 1877 Nowak edition, in excellent sound. Georg Tintner with the National Orchestra of Ireland (Naxos 8.554006) opts for the original 1872 score with the inner movements reversed, that is, with the scherzo placed second in the sequence of four movements. This version too is well played in a pleasing acoustic, though without quite the impact of the Dutch performance.

The slow movement has a special eloquence, with some wonderful writing for the strings, while the scherzo, as we might expect, is the most direct and powerfully rhythmic part of the work. Here the sheer virtuosity of the orchestra comes to the fore, with the trumpets and timpani on fine form. By contrast the central trio is an idyll of great beauty.

The finale is more complex, and probably the most difficult of the four movements to bring off. At nearly twenty minutes it matches the respective lengths of the first and second movements, though not so consistently their level of inspiration. Again the playing of the orchestra serves Bruckner well, and the conductor’s grasp of style and structure carries the music through to a purposeful conclusion.

Bruckner’s Second is a fine symphony that will become finer still on each hearing, and such a response is a tribute to these performers as it is to the recording as well.

Terry Barfoot 
 

 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.