Bruckner's Second Symphony is not usually counted among his
finest works. Listening to a performance of this quality it
is difficult to tell why that should be. Marcus Bosch and his
Aachen forces don't make any concessions to the score, they
approach it as if it were the Eighth or Ninth, and in doing
so uncover levels of depth and sophistication wholly absent
in most recordings. There is a sense of life in every phrase,
partly a result of sensitive tempo fluctuations and partly the
commitment of the players, that allows everything to make perfect
sense. This is an expansive reading, yet there is never any
suspicion of megalomania or redundancy - a rare achievement
indeed.
The recording was made in the St. Nikolaus Kirche in Aachen,
a grand, Gothic edifice with a very high ceiling. Recording
Bruckner in churches and cathedrals is a risky business, you
inevitably lose clarity of detail. But the essence of Bruckner
is not in the detail, it is in the bigger picture, and if the
conductor and orchestra can work with the acoustic, the results
can be magisterial. And that is exactly what happens here. The
disc is the penultimate in a Bruckner cycle - assuming they
are leaving out No.0 and No.00 - and the seven recordings they
have previously made in this venue have given them an innate
feeling for which tempos work, and for the gaps required between
phrases to accommodate the decay. Resonant as the space is,
it has a clean acoustic with an even decay, ideal for a recording
such as this.
The combination of a resonant acoustic and high quality SACD
audio leads to paradoxical virtues. Rather than show off the
detail of the orchestral sound, the audio instead intensifies
the sense of atmosphere. The engineers have clearly taken measures
to include the spacious acoustic in the recording, but the orchestra
never feels distant. And the quality of the orchestral playing
helps to bring the effect off. The strings play with fantastic
ensemble, the brass sound is punchy but always round, and the
woodwind solos are all distinctive and lyrical, even the bassoon
in the Adagio. A lesser orchestra could easily be defeated by
the emulsifying effect of the acoustic, but this orchestra is
more than a match for it.
The other potentially radical choice is the use of the 1872
'original' version of the score. The main difference between
this and the better known Nowak edition is that the scherzo
comes second and is considerably longer than in the later edition.
But it never outstays its welcome, and given that the whole
symphony still fits comfortably on a single disc, there seems
little justification for the edits (admittedly Bruckner's own)
that are now considered the norm.
The highest musical honours should go to Marcus Bosch, who coordinates
and energises this extraordinary performance with insight, energy
and passion. Given the acoustic, you might expect generally
slow tempos, but he knows that his orchestra has the timbral
focus to keep things together at faster speeds. The first movement
in particular is taken at a satisfyingly brisk pace, and the
scherzo also gets some healthy propulsion. On the other hand,
the adagio and the quieter passages in the finale make the most
of the resonance by pulling back and revelling in the moment.
None of the tempos are extreme, but they are always fluid, allowing
each of the mighty phrases to breathe and to unfold at its own
pace.
A great recording then, and one that amply demonstrates that
high quality audio is not just about highlighting the details.
It might be asking too much to expect this disc to convert Bruckner
sceptics, but if you have a taste for the man's later work and
have previously been unmoved by the Second Symphony, then this
could be the disc to change your mind. Marcus Bosch doesn't
do anything very much that hasn't been done before, but somehow
it all comes together in a way that few manage with this work.
Gavin Dixon
Masterwork Index: Bruckner
Symphony 2
Aachen Symphony Orchestra/Marcus Bosch 
