In 1983 the eighty-four year old Lovro Von Matatic
appeared for the first and only time at a BBC Promenade Concert with
the Philharmonia Orchestra with whom he had been associated since the
1950s. He conducted Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Cecille Ousset and
this performance of Bruckner’s Third Symphony. The choice of Bruckner
was entirely appropriate as it was with the Philharmonia that Matacic
had made the first ever recording of a Bruckner symphony by a British
orchestra, the Fourth, in 1954. Walter Legge of Columbia had chosen
Matacic for the project because of fine credentials as a Bruckner specialist
even then and the fact that the Fourth was not then in Karajan’s repertoire.
Karajan was Legge’s star conductor but Legge felt that the only Bruckner
symphonies Karajan performed at that time, the Eighth and Ninth, were
not commercially viable. Matacic later recorded more Bruckner symphonies:
the Zero, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Symphonies for Denon and
Supraphon. There are also "off-air" recordings of him conducting
the Fifth, Seventh and Ninth as well as two others of the Third. So
he is a real Bruckner specialist, often overlooked these days when the
pantheon of great Bruckner conductors is drawn up. However, there is
something special about this recording of the Third Symphony that puts
it on a par with Matacic’s studio recordings, promoting it as a major
new release, since it comes from the master tape made in the Royal Albert
Hall and is in digital sound.
As Alan Sanders’ notes tell us the BBC were experimenting
with digital recording in 1983 so this was one of the first concert
tapes made by them in the new medium. So precious is the tape the producers
have had to go to the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television
in Bradford to find a machine (a Telefunken-Mitsubishi X-80 open reel
DASH format for the technically minded) that could play it. Only two
hundred of these machines were ever made and the BBC stopped using them
many years ago. The result is a revelation in sound terms alone. Put
from your mind any thought that this is a recording that needs special
tolerance, as some BBC Legends releases do. Listening to it is like
turning on Radio 3 one night last Summer to hear a "live"
relay from the Proms, so accurate does a digital archive recording come
down to us. The recorded balance on that night in 1983 was well suited
to convey the Bruckner sound with a good amount of air around the instruments,
excellent stereo spread with timpani especially well-caught, firm brass,
and a real feeling of "being there" on the night.
The Philharmonia also sound as if they enjoyed playing
under their ageing guest conductor, responding to every turn of his
fine interpretation of this difficult-to-bring-off work. Difficult in
part because it’s a flawed piece when played in anything other than
the original version of 1873 (edited by Leopold Nowak and based on the
Wagner dedication score) before Bruckner submitted it to revision and
even then it’s hard to escape the feeling that we are still some way
short of Bruckner’s greatest years. Eliahu Inbal (Teldec 0630141972)
and Georg Tintner (Naxos 8.553454) have recorded that version
and either should be on the shelves of interested Brucknerites. Most
other recordings essentially use either of the revised versions of 1877
and 1889 between which there are further differences, though this is
not the place to discuss those. Whilst this release identifies the edition
used as being that of 1877 the truth is that Matacic has actually interpolated
at least a couple of changes from 1889 further muddying the text question
that invariably comes up when considering Bruckner recordings. Those
of you who know the differences between the two editions will notice,
for example, that at the coda to the Scherzo in this performance the
1889 truncated ending has been imposed on that of 1877.
In the first movement Matacic takes the long, strategic
view and whilst his is an expressive style with Bruckner’s themes he
never loses sight of that bigger picture. He can also vary his tempi
to a remarkable degree without letting you know where the gear changes
are. That is surely an acid test for a great Bruckner conductor because
you can only do that when you really know the scores very well - know
where the weak and the strong points are. There is excitement and lyricism
in equal and appropriate measure too and some especially good cello
playing with the players encouraged to really lean into their music.
I especially liked too the arrival of the recapitulation which we find
Matacic has prepared us for with a quiet inevitability that is very
moving. After this the second movement is direct and noble but you really
do need to hear the 1873 score to hear what Bruckner originally meant
it to sound like. For all that, Matacic is moving and convincing and
there are passages where his urgent pressing forward assists in getting
across the flawed message being conveyed giving the movement a real
questing nature.
A good rhythmic pull and the full brass reproduction
of the recording then helps to maintain a steady momentum in the third
movement scherzo and just the right amount of tempo change gives a real
contrast in the bucolic trio which Matatic makes dance along very effectively.
The finale of this symphony is one of those where Bruckner’s material
and his organisation of it is just not strong enough for him to deliver
a convincing enough crowning to the entire work as he does in the Fifth
and Eighth Symphonies in spades, for example. Matacic does his best
with the movement, as you would expect by now, and he makes as good
a case for it as any that I have heard. It certainly doesn’t outstay
its welcome, as it sometimes can. The stately "polka" sections
especially contrast memorably with the chorales, though I doubt if even
the greatest conductor could ever save this movement from being second
rate. However, once underway the coda to the movement emerges with a
genuine feeling of triumph and rounds off a performance of this problematic
work that I’m sure I will return to many times.
A real gem from the archives giving us a fine performance
of a problematic work in excellent sound.
Tony Duggan
Philharmonia Orchestra/Lovro
Von Matacic