BRUCKNER
Symphony No. 5 in B flat major
BBC Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Jascha Horenstein
Recorded Royal Albert Hall,
London, 15th September 1971 BBC Legends - BBCL 4033-2 - STEREO (ADD)
Total time
74.46
Crotchet
Amazon
UK
This disc was recorded at the 1971 proms, and the quality of the performance
is such that it rendered the audience (apart from the end) into relative
silence. The usual extraneous noise distractions of many prom performances
are here less intrusive than I have experienced before.
Many of Horenstein's studio performances I find somewhat inhibited and therefore
unsatisfactory, but here, with an audience hanging on every note and urging
the performers on, the performance is incandescent. It is further enhanced
by the playing of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, here galvanised into giving
the performance of their lives.
Timings of the movements are non conclusive, as Horenstein moulds the various
episodes of each movement into a satisfying whole. The first, second and
last movements are non controversial, with the slow movement a little faster
than usual, more up to the speed of Furtwangler and Knappertsbusch.
The recording is well up to the better BBC prom recording quality, recorded
before they started to spoil many broadcasts with excessive and disfiguring
compression. Any sonic limitations, such as they may be, can confidently
be ignored, if you are trying to decide whether to buy this disc or not.
It is a very important addition to the Horenstein discography.
Reviewer
John Phillips
see also review
by Tony Duggan
