Günter Wand made
several recordings of Bruckner’s incomplete
Ninth symphony, most of them taken live
from concerts. There are reviews on
MusicWeb of his 1978 studio recording
with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra,
his 1988 rendition from Lübeck
cathedral with the NDR Symphony Orchestra
and the present recording when it was
issued as part of a 90th
birthday tribute of his "Essential
recordings" (see links to reviews
below). I have not heard the earlier
versions but it seems fairly clear from
the reviews that this version should
be the preferred Wand reading, especially
as it now appears as a mid-price single
disc. In his review John Quinn wrote
that "Wand rises to and meets every
challenge and, with the outstanding
players of the Berlin Philharmonic attentive
to every nuance, he lays before us a
reading which is compelling, lucid and
magnificent".
Overall, I would not
dissent from John Quinn’s view on this
reading. Certainly the playing is wonderful
and Wand’s tempi in the outer movements
and his overall control of the structure
are very well-judged. I did wonder whether
the trio, marked Schnell was
taken quite fast enough? There were
also a couple of specific points in
this interpretation that I found surprising.
After a wonderful beginning, Wand seems
to virtually ignore the ritenuto
marked in bar 61, just two bars before
the height of the climax. Although there
are quite a lot of tempo changes in
Bruckner’s symphonies, relatively rarely
does he mark a change of tempo within
repetitive passages like this one which
build to a climax. Perhaps therefore
Wand, and, interestingly, Karajan before
him with the Berlin Philharmonic, was
questioning whether this was really
one of Bruckner’s intentions as opposed
to the interventions of those who fiddled
with his scores. Musically, however,
the ritenuto seems to make sense,
particularly when it is perfectly judged
by conductors such as Walter and Haitink.
This is a fairly small point - I can
live with Wand here but not with Jochum
in his Dresden recording who plays the
ritenuto but precedes it with
an accelerando and then inserts
a brief unmarked pause before the shattering
tutti which follows.
The second surprise
is near the beginning of the adagio.
This opens with a wild leap on the G
strings of the first violins followed
by six bars of impassioned music in
built-on rising figures with the brass
joining in and reaching fortissimo.
In bar 7 there is hush and we are left
only with two bars of a meandering figure
in cellos and basses marked pianissimo.
Other instruments then come in, most
notably an oboe solo marked piano.
For some reason, the dynamics are clearly
not right at this point of this recording.
The cellos and basses seem to be playing
at least mezzo-piano and certainly
louder than the oboe which follows.
This is a passage that normally one
strains to hear and which provides great
contrast with what has preceded it but
that is diminished here. This could
perhaps be put down to the engineers
rather than Wand but, whatever the reason,
it momentarily alters the complexion
of the music and again when the opening
is reprised. Overall, I found Wand’s
adagio very passionate but there is
a wonderful feeling of repose at the
very end.
The recording is generally
excellent and, although the audience
is occasionally audible, it is not really
intrusive. Sensibly the applause at
the end has been edited out. Whilst
this is the most obvious choice for
a Wand recording, there is considerable
competition from other conductors. Of
those I have heard, Bruno Walter in
1959 and Bernard Haitink in 1981 (which
does not currently seem to be available)
are, in my view, the finest. I was also
very impressed with a live Giulini recording
from 1996 recently issued on DVD. The
present version bears comparison with
those although it is not quite as magnificent
as Wand’s Berlin recording of Bruckner’s
8th symphony.
When CD was new I recall
someone somewhere writing that, never
mind the debate about digital sound,
the real advantage was that, unlike
LPs, CDs could be slipped into the house
in a brief case past unsuspecting eyes
that would question why another version
of Bruckner’s 9th symphony
was needed. The comment stuck with me
for more than one reason but not least
because this is indeed a work for which
one version is not enough. Like Wand’s
other Berlin Bruckner recordings, this
is certainly one of the most essential.
Patrick C Waller
Link to review of Wand’s
1978 recording:
http://musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Dec02/Wand_Bruckner89.htm
Link to review of Wand’s 1988 recording:
http://musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Nov01/Bruckner59Wand.htm
Link to previous review of this recording:
http://musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/May02/Essential_Wand.htm
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Günter Wand
