Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896)
Symphony in F minor, 'Study Symphony', WAB 99 (1863) [43.23]
Philharmonie Festiva/Gerd Schaller
rec. live, September 2015, Ebrach Summer Festival, Regentenbau, Bad Kissingen, Germany
HÄNSSLER PROFIL PH15004 [43.23]

I recently reviewed Gerd Schaller’s recording of “Die Nullte”, recorded in March 2015, six months before this release and in the same grateful venue, and I expressed mild surprise at just how much of the style of the mature Bruckner was already apparent in that work of 1869.

The so-called “Study Symphony”, sometimes known as Symphony No. 00, dates from six years previously and understandably contains far fewer of the Brucknerian trademarks his aficionados prize; indeed some might concur with the verdict of Bruckner’s teacher Otto Kitzler who adjudged it to be “uninspired”, a criticism somewhat at odds with the appreciative and appreciable notes from Dr Rainer Boss. My MusicWeb colleague Michael Cookson, who reviewed this disc last March, also summons up rather more enthusiasm for it than I feel inclined to express but I am in full agreement that it could hardly be given better advocacy than it receives here from Schaller and the excellent Philharmonie Festiva, who have already proved their prowess in their series of recordings of the complete Bruckner symphonies on Profil.

Furthermore, the sound engineering is once again of the highest order, the warm acoustic of the Regentenbau proving ideal for enhancing the textures of this music.

The symphony is essentially rustic in spirit, sounding very much like second-rate Schumann – although some might say that too much of Schumann’s own music unfortunately sounds second-rate, so perhaps we should go easy on this late-developing composer who was not yet forty and was yet to produce his masterpieces. The main subject of the Allegro molto vivace is rather gauche and banal, its chord progressions and scurrying string passages seeming somewhat directionless and oddly punctuated by solo viola passages which seem artificially grafted onto the main musical argument. However, the pastoral second subject is attractive, there is a pleasing delicacy to the development and the conclusion to the movement is decidedly rousing.

The Andante is again a little shapeless but the galumphing central section has an appealing charm and there is some lovely solo oboe playing. The Scherzo bustles boldly in as manner more proleptic of the later Bruckner symphonies, whose Scherzi are so often full of momentum and even aggression. TheFinale is robust, romping and jolly, again very much in the Schumann mode.

Not a great deal of the music here is especially memorable but it is certainly intriguing, particularly to the Bruckner completist.

Ralph Moore

Previous review: Michael Cookson

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