I've been raving about the Paavo Jarvi ZTO Bruckner Eighth, but. . .
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| Posted on July 20, 2024 at 12:20:22 | ||
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Posts: 27471
Location: SF Bay Area Joined: February 17, 2004 Contributor Since: February 6, 2012 |
. . . I also wanted to post a shout out on behalf of the new Reference Recording release (in their "Fresh" series) of the Bruckner Seventh with Honeck/Pittsburgh. I already noted that this team's Bruckner Fourth was one of the best I've heard, with lots of imaginative (and convincing!) interpretive elements, and this new recording of the Seventh is similarly compelling. What I love most of all is how the orchestra seems to be "at one" with Honeck's ideas as to how phrases are to be shaped, how nuances are to be conveyed, and how balances are to be ensured. Like what I've heard from Jarvi, Honeck seems to prefer purposefully flexible tempos, which help enliven Bruckner's sometimes "square" writing. (As you may know, the composer seemed to be a proponent of what the Krauts call "Viertaktigkeit" - I hope I have that word right, and yes I know I have an Umlaut missing! - where, at the measure and larger levels, the "activity" of the music divides in 2's and 4's throughout. He is known to have counted the measures in his scores to make sure they could divide this way!) The phrases really sing out in this performance, a bit like what we hear on Giulini's Bruckner recordings, but I think the sense of freedom in Honeck's performance is even greater! It's certainly one of the best recordings of the work I know of. (But I haven't checked Jarvi and the ZTO yet in this particular Symphony, or even Jarvi and the Frankfurt RSO, the 10-SACD set of which arrived from Tower Records Japan last week. I mention this because both Jarvi and Honeck seem to share a similar outlook on Bruckner, based on what I've heard so far.) This is also the first Reference Recording I've heard in Dolby Atmos, and it's the best one I've heard in the "Fresh" series (i.e., derived from concert performances and recorded by Soundmirror's usual cast of Sobotka and Newton, rather than Professor Johnson). Even leaving Dolby Atmos aside, I feel that Soundmirror has been getting more and more proficient over time in their Pittsburgh recordings, and, as I just mentioned, this one seems to be the best yet. BTW, the 11-minute Bates piece is not bad at all, although I'm sure that some listeners might balk at the fact that it sounds like a certain type of movie music! Still, the scoring is very imaginative and full of potent effects at both ends of the dynamic spectrum. So bravo to all involved! p.s.: There's also a review of this recording on the audiophilia.com site, where Anthony Kershaw notes how, among other things, Honeck's tempos seem to "breathe" naturally. (I also love his comment about the "dirge-like slow-downs" at every cadence to be heard in Thielemann's VPO performance!) Kershaw prefers Giulini/VPO to Honeck overall. I love the Giulini recording myself, but I'm now even more enthusiastic about this new Honeck recording. In any case, the link to that review is below:
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