(++++) THE INSIGHTS CONTINUE

Bruckner from the Archives, Volume 3: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4. NDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (No. 3); Munich Philharmonic conducted by Volkmar Andreae (No. 4). Ariadne. $24.99 (2 CDs).

     The third issue of the six planned in Ariadne’s remarkable Bruckner from the Archives releases, being offered in connection with the Bruckner bicentennial, continues to fulfill the promise of the earlier volumes, presenting  previously unreleased historic recordings that have far more than archival value – although that aspect of their value is unmistakable. Both symphonic readings heard in Volume 3 are radio airchecks, No. 3 from 1966 and No. 4 from 1958. Both have been masterfully remastered to deliver the best monophonic sound possible from their era – and both show just how skillfully conductors at that time managed to elucidate complex music that audiences could hear only through a single speaker, often not one of particularly high quality.

     The performances themselves are of high quality, and both conductors in Volume 3 – neither especially well-known today, although both had considerable stature in their lifetimes – are quite sensitive to Bruckner’s structural concerns and to the foundational emotions underpinning his symphonies. Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (1900-1973) beautifully evokes the grandeur of Symphony No. 3 with an unerring sense of its monumental elements and a well-paced approach that keeps its emphatic and lyrical material in finely honed balance. Listeners familiar with the symphony will notice differences between the editions used today and the no-longer-used one conducted by Schmidt-Isserstedt – it dates to 1950 and was prepared by Fritz Oeser – but the never-ending arguments over Bruckner editions and versions of the symphonies fade into irrelevance in the Bruckner from the Archives series, which is best listened to not as a time capsule, not as an argument for one version or edition or another, but as an opportunity to hear how remarkably well Bruckner’s music was served at a time when it was far from the standard repertoire and barely acknowledged by a great many performers and audiences.

     The Schmidt-Isserstedt and Andreae performances heard here are not beholden to any particular school of thought regarding the “right” way to handle Bruckner or the latest fine-tunings of editions and versions. They are simply very thoughtful presentations of music that both conductors understand thoroughly and do their best to bring cohesively to audiences. And their best is very good indeed. Schmidt-Isserstedt’s reading of Symphony No. 3 is elegant, often incisive, and – despite a certain thinness of recorded sound that remastering cannot remove – features an orchestra with richness of tone and precision of sectional balance. Schmidt-Isserstedt is particularly adept in his tempo choice for the second movement, whose indication Adagio: Bewegt, quasi allegretto can be difficult for conductors to figure out. Here the music has both the emotive elements associated with adagio and the lighter ones often associated with an allegretto – this is particularly clear in the pizzicato elements. The performance as a whole, although certainly weighty enough, is not weighed down by all the ins and outs of subsequent argumentativeness regarding what Bruckner really wanted to communicate with this “Wagner symphony,” which became steadily less overtly Wagnerian as Bruckner reworked it over time. Unencumbered by such dross, Schmidt-Isserstedt delivers a reading that can be described as refreshingly straightforward, with an especially welcome Tyrolean flavor in the Scherzo and an emphatic finale that neatly ties together all that has come before.

     The recording of Symphony No. 4 by Volkmar Andreae (1879-1962) shares many of the same strengths. There is something to be said for not over-complicating Bruckner but simply presenting him as a kind of heir to Schubert using a more-expansive symphonic canvas. This is a particularly felicitous approach to the “Romantic” symphony (so named by the composer himself), which by now is so well-known that some conductors seem to bend over backwards to look for a “new” (or at least different) approach to it. Andreae, who actually conducted the Swiss première of Bruckner’s Fourth, clearly knows the score intimately; and the fact that he uses a version of the work still commonly offered (1878-1880 in the Haas edition) gives his reading an immediate familiarity after more than 65 years. The first movement in his interpretation is particularly interesting, being faster-paced than usual (despite its nicht zu schnell marking) and offering pronounced tempo differences among the sections. This makes it somewhat episodic but, at the same time, highlights its underlying structure – it is an intriguing approach. One of the most telling elements of the “Romantic” is that three of the four movements – the first, third and fourth – are designated bewegt, “emotional,” making the expressive qualities of the music a key to its effect, despite the considerable dramatic elements that the symphony also contains. Andreae clearly understands this, extracting engaging lyricism throughout the performance without ever wallowing in the work’s emotive elements or overdoing them. This is especially evident in the slow movement, marked Andante, quasi allegretto (a less-confusing designation than that of the slow movement of No. 3): the music has a pleasingly natural flow, swelling and subsiding on waves of warmth.

     Andreae paces the famous “Hunting” Scherzo quickly, making the fanfares indeed sound like calls to the chase. The Trio contrasts strongly through its slow pace and Andreae’s attentiveness to the comparative delicacy of its scoring. The result is a very effective third movement that leads to an even more compelling finale, whose large scale Andreae emphasizes from the start. This movement meanders a bit, with the slower sections reducing its forward progress; but the speedier portions, with their clarion calls of sound and propulsive rhythms, make the movement an effective capstone to the symphony and show how thoroughly Andreae understood and appreciated Bruckner’s intricacies and the formal underpinnings of the movement and the entire work. Far from being mere curiosities, these readings of Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 are testimony to the high regard in which Bruckner was held by first-rate conductors at a time when his music was much less commonly heard than it is today. The Bruckner from the Archives series continues to bring forth previously unavailable material that is fully valid on its own terms while also providing fascinating historical insights into the treatment of Bruckner’s works in the years before they became staples of many orchestras’ offerings.