Bruckner
from the Archives, Volume 2: Mass No. 2 in E minor; Symphony No. “0” in D
minor; Symphony No. 2. Choir of St.
Hedwig’s Cathedral, Berlin, and Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Karl Foster
(Mass); Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam conducted by Eduard van Beinum
(Symphony No. “0”); Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Georg Ludwig
Jochum (Symphony No. 2). Ariadne. $24.99 (2 CDs).
Hugo
Kauder: Symphony No. 1; Hans Erich Apostel: Variations on a Theme by Haydn;
Adolf Busch: Variations on an Original Theme. The Orchestra Now conducted by Leon Botstein. AVIE. $19.99.
The second of six planned Bruckner
from the Archives releases in connection with the Bruckner bicentennial
maintains the promise and the quality of the first, continuing to move through
the composer’s 11 symphonies by presenting first releases of very fine readings
from a time before Bruckner became ubiquitous in concerts and recordings – and tended
to become somewhat straitlaced and pedantic much of the time. As Bruckner’s
popularity grew, there came to be an acknowledged “Bruckner sound” and
standardized approach that conductors might tweak around the edges but
generally adhered to when it came to matters of editions to use, repeats to
take or not take, sectional balance, and overall sonority of the symphonies. As
a result, it is salutary to hear some performances (nicely restored and remastered
for this series by executive producer Lani Spahr) that predate the formalizing
of Brucknerian expectations and, as a result, shed some light on the factors
that eventually brought the composer to the prominence he enjoys today. Both
symphonies on Ariadne’s second archival release are live performances, No. “0”
from 1955 and No. 2 from 1962; Mass No. 2,
recorded in 1956, was released on vinyl but never on CD until now. This work,
completed in 1866, receives a finely balanced and very well-played reading
under the leadership of Karl Forster, the choral sound massed without being
clotted and the words sung with understanding and even fervor. Aural quality
aside – it is fine for its era – the performance stands up quite well beside
much-more-recent ones. The reading of the “nullified” symphony of 1869 also
proves quite worthwhile. The work, admittedly flawed, is better – when seen and
heard retrospectively – than Bruckner himself thought it was. The extensive use
of brass looks forward to later works; the Scherzo
is appealing in rhythm and its Trio
pleasantly rustic (Bruckner never wrote a bad Scherzo); and the chorale-like elements heard from time to time recall
and draw on the composer’s Mass settings either directly or indirectly. The
weaknesses of No. “0,” notably the rather disorganized opening of the first
movement and the comparatively lightweight Andante,
are real but not overwhelming, and Eduard van Beinum does a fine job of
minimizing them if not exactly papering them over. The excellence of the
Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam comes through to fine effect here, and van
Beinum’s willingness to handle Bruckner within the context of other 19th-century
symphonists – notably through his tempo choices for the third and fourth
movements – gives this spirited reading a very pleasant freshness. Georg Ludwig
Jochum’s handling of Symphony No. 2 also comes across as thoughtful, engaged
and pleasantly direct. The Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra does especially
well putting forth the varying moods of the symphony, and while it does not
have the heft of the Concertgebouw, the ensemble features fine balance of its
sections and easy responsiveness to the conductor. The primary issue with this
performance is the edition used: the matter of the many Bruckner editions is
not really central to these archival recordings – scholarship is far more
settled (or at least more dogmatic) today than it was in the 1950s and 1960s –
but in this case, Jochum uses a Haas edition now deemed to be something of an
inauthentic hodgepodge, and on top of that follows some but not all of Haas’
recommendations as to cuts and repeats. This will be a matter of interest more
to scholars than to audiences in general, however, because what is genuinely
striking about the performance is the verve and intensity that Jochum brings to
the symphony, giving it a feeling of consistency and elegance that later
conductors’ readings did not always capture. Bruckner from the Archives is emerging as not only a fine tribute
to the composer but also a fascinating opportunity to hear some first-rate
performances created before there was a generally accepted approach to
Bruckner’s music – performances responsible for moving musicians and listeners
alike toward the very high respect in which Bruckner is now held.
Bruckner from the Archives digs into the past to rescue many previously unknown or long-unheard recordings of music that has since become much more familiar. But sometimes the music itself, and its composers, are in need of rescue, or at least rediscovery. That is the case with the three composers represented on a new AVIE recording featuring The Orchestra Now under conductor Leon Botstein. All three are 20th-century composers whose lives were forever changed by Nazism. Hugo Kauder (1888-1972) wrote five symphonies, the first of which was, interestingly enough, dedicated to Alma Mahler. Kauder, a Moravian composer who fled Vienna for New York, actually took a somewhat Mahlerian approach to his Symphony No. 1, at least in terms of harmonies and the intense drama that emerges repeatedly (if irregularly). However, the work is more traditional in length than Mahler’s symphonies (it runs 40 minutes) and is emotionally on the superficial side; and its finale (Ruhig, streng gemessen – “calm, strictly measured”) is something of an anticlimax. It is, however, very well-made structurally, and makes strongly assured use of the orchestra, albeit without any particularly innovative treatment of the sections. Botstein conducts it with strength and conviction, and it is certainly an interesting rediscovery even if it does not wear very well. Next on the disc is Variations on a Theme by Haydn by Hans Erich Apostel (1901-1972), a German-born Austrian who managed to live out his life in Vienna even though the Nazis condemned his music. This piece could actually be called “Variations on Variations on a Theme by Haydn,” not only to distinguish it from Brahms’ famous work (whose theme is not by Haydn, although Brahms thought it was) but also because the theme Apostel chooses comes from the second movement of Haydn’s Symphony No. 103 (“Drum Roll”) – and that movement itself is a set of variations. In any case, Apostel’s dissonance and insistence on twelvetone and atonal construction, while they allow for some very far-reaching variations indeed, do not result in a particularly attractive work. The statement of the theme, with its lilt and careful orchestral balance, contrasts strongly with nine variations that do not so much pull the theme here and there as pull it apart without bothering to reassemble it. Apostel was clearly more attuned to the artistic concepts and fads of his own time than to Haydn’s: one variation is even labeled Nachtstück, in Kubins Manier, referring to symbolist/expressionist artist Alfred Kubin (1877-1959). Apostel’s piece is scarcely “degenerate” (the Nazis’ condemnatory word) by modern standards, but it is largely an affectation rather than anything heard or felt more deeply. The third piece on this CD uses the variation form to rather better effect. Variations on an Original Theme by Adolf Busch (1891-1962), written for piano four hands, is heard here in a well-wrought arrangement by Busch’s grandson, pianist Peter Serkin (1947-2020). Busch, who, like Kauder, ended up in the United States after fleeing Nazism, was best known as a violinist. His compositional language, unlike Apostel’s, is unashamedly Romantic, and Serkin’s arrangement takes full advantage of that sensibility in producing a warmth and emotional directness that is quite winning. Botstein makes a fine advocate for all three of these works, and his orchestra – essentially a graduate training ensemble for young musicians – plays everything here with suitable but not overdone intensity. It would be overstating the case to say that any of these pieces is a misplaced and now recovered masterwork, but the quality of the performances and the chance to hear some interestingly unfamiliar and mostly well-crafted material make this a solid (+++) disc, even if most listeners are unlikely to return to rehear the music with any great frequency.
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