This recording was made during a concert in which
the veteran conductor Stanisław Skrowaczewski appeared with the
LPO. I remember reading the enthusiastic
review
by my
Seen and Heard colleague, Colin Clarke - though I’ve
deliberately
not re-read Colin’s comments prior to appraising
this CD. Having now heard this masterly reading of the symphony I’m
very glad indeed that it has been preserved on disc.
Skrowaczewski (b. 1923) celebrated his eighty-ninth birthday three weeks
before this concert. On the evidence of this performance in no way have
his powers been dimmed by physical ageing though there is an undoubted
wisdom in the way he conducts this score. He is no stranger to Bruckner:
with the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra he recorded a complete
cycle of the symphonies, and though I’ve not heard any of these
recordings - an omission I must rectify - the cycle was well regarded
by
Terry
Barfoot and by
Patrick
Waller. I see that, separately, Terry Barfoot
gave
a warm welcome to Skrowaczewski’s 1991 recording of this particular
symphony. In his review Terry mentioned Skrowaczewski used the Nowak
edition of the score. For this LPO performance the conductor used his
own, unpublished edition of the symphony. How that differs from the
previous Nowak or Haas editions I’m unable to say - Skrowaczewski
follows Nowak in using cymbals and triangle to reinforce the climax
of the Adagio - though, listening without a score, I couldn’t
detect any noticeable changes. The overall timing for the studio recording
was 68:45, suggesting that the conductor’s pacing of the music
hasn’t altered much, if at all, in the intervening twenty years.
In Skrowaczewski’s hands the first movement unfolds spaciously.
The lovely, long-breathed opening theme on violas and cellos is broad
and almost yearning. The pacing of the movement is unhurried and patient
yet even though the conductor makes the most of Bruckner’s lyrical
passages never once did I feel he was overplaying his hand. There is
great integrity to the interpretation and certainly no question of playing
to the gallery. Skrowaczewski has a firm grip on the structure and I
found his approach consistently convincing. The final peroration (from
20:19) is glowing and majestic
The Adagio is uncommonly spacious; indeed, I’m pushed to recall
a version that I’ve heard which is as broadly conceived. Out of
interest I looked out some highly respected live recordings by other
‘senior’ Brucknerians. Skrowaczewski’s overall timing
of 24:23 compares with 21:44 in Günter Wand’s 1999 Berlin
Philharmonic traversal; Reginald Goodall took 22:14 with the BBC Symphony
Orchestra in 1971(
review);
Bernard Haitink took 22:26 in Chicago in a very fine 2002 performance
(
review);
while in Karajan’s last recording of the work, with the Vienna
Philharmonic, the movement played for 23:12. Skrowaczewski definitely
obeys Bruckner’s tempo instruction, which translates as ‘Very
solemn and very slow’. To sustain such a broad basic tempo demands
great concentration on the part of the conductor and the players; that
never seems in doubt here. I can only describe the playing throughout
this movement as burnished with the strings and the horns/Wagner tubas
especially impressive. The movement is clearly seen by Skrowaczewski
as a searching elegy and he plays it as such. All of Bruckner’s
last three symphonies have magnificent adagio movements at their heart;
a performance such as this particular one makes you feel that the Seventh’s
slow movement is the noblest of all.
The scherzo has, in the words of annotator Stephen Johnson, “an
obsessive elemental drive”. That’s how it sounds here, the
rhythms powerfully articulated. However, when the trio arrives the music
sounds suitably relaxed. The start of the finale has a theme that is
unusually perky for Bruckner. Skrowaczewski makes it sound almost playful.
He knits the three themes of this movement together into a coherent
whole. The jagged unison theme, derived from the opening motif, always
sounds purposeful yet elsewhere Skrowaczewski is prepared to allow the
music all the space it needs to make its effect. The very end of the
symphony (from 11:31) is magisterial but, then, one could legitimately
use that word to describe the interpretation of the entire score. There
is no applause at the end - indeed, as far as I could tell the audience
doesn’t intrude at all - but I bet there was a huge ovation on
the night; if there wasn’t there’s no justice in this world.
With their collective Bruckner tradition, instilled especially by Haitink
and Tennstedt, one could make a strong case that the LPO is
the
London Bruckner orchestra. Here, directed by a conductor of Skrowaczewski’s
stamp, they are in peerless form. The recorded sound does full justice
to the quality of the playing.
This is a profoundly satisfying performance which always feels ‘right’.
Indeed, I’d go so far as to say this may well be one of the finest
ever recordings of the symphony; it really is that good. We can only
be grateful that this magnificent performance has been preserved for
posterity. All Bruckner collectors should add it to their collections
without delay.
John Quinn
See also review by
Ralph
Moore
Masterwork Index:
Bruckner
Symphony 7
