Music and Recording Reviews

Bruckner: Symphony No.4 "Romantic"
Anima Eterna Brugge/Pablo Heras-Casado
Harmonia Mundi HMM902721 (CD). Evil Penguin (sic), prod.; Steven Maes, eng.
Performance ***½
Sonics ***

"Period" Bruckner? Really? In the '90s, the historical-practice movement's incursions into Romantics extended to Verdi's Requiem, so maybe Bruckner isn't so far-fetched. Neither does this depart much from a standard Romantic approach, although Pablo Heras-Casado, a "modern" conductor, eschews routine interpretive touches and underplays certain episodes in favor of the larger picture. In the first-movement recap, the flute obbligato is clear and surefooted. In the slow movement, the mini fugue in track 7 (each movement has multiple tracks) isn't particularly grand but does set up the following section well. The Finale's brassy third-theme recap is shaped as part of the overall structure; we can even make out its return in the counterpoint.

Otherwise, tempi are normal to brisk, with some motility into climaxes. The slow movement's theme marches steadily when the reeds take it over; its elaborate final recap—practically a Bruckner structural tic—flows smoothly. The turbulent triplet outbursts in the Finale, far from nuisance interruptions, make arching, luminous sense.

The instruments don't sound all that different from the usual valved brass. The opening horn solo—liquid, yet clean and perfectly placed—evokes an actual organ stop. The use of (I assume) gut strings allows for warm, transparent sectional blends in the lyric themes; on the other hand, the little rhythmic pattern introducing the Andante sounds tentative, and some "dirty" inner-voice attacks spoil the effect in quiet chords

The acoustic is gently cushioned—but why the strident trumpet tone in tutti? This problem dogged us through the '90s and '00s; I'm disappointed to hear it again. If it's the engineers' fault—well, a little restraint goes a long way.—Stephen Francis Vasta

Brahms: Concertos for Piano and Orchestra Nos.1 & 2; Works for Solo Piano Opp.116–119
Igor Levit, piano; Wiener Philharmoniker, Christian Thielemann, cond.
Sony 916541 (reviewed as 24/96 download). 2024. Arend Prohmann, Andreas Neubronner, Florian Rosensteiner, Magdalena Herbst, prods.; Christian Gorz, Andreas Neubronner, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics ****

Amidst many recordings of Brahms's Piano Concertos, this live effort stands out for its vigor, passion, and virtuosity. The opening to Concerto No.1 in D minor, Op.15, which Brahms began after the suicide attempt of his champion, Robert Schumann, is extremely dramatic. Bass is excellent, and the piano sounds extremely natural, if depicted on a less-than-transparent sonic canvas. Levit and Thielemann effortlessly pivot from heartfelt introversion to extroverted excitement. The middle movement is gentle, beautiful, and moving, and the finale as grand and songful as one would want. The second concerto, recorded four months earlier, again excels in songfulness. The third movement is perhaps even more moving than the first's Adagio, and the constant outpouring of emotion virtually overwhelms.

Each of the 20 pieces in Opp.116, 117, 118, and 119 is short, with the longest, Intermezzo in A Major, No.2, running only six minutes. Justly famous, it's performed with tempo and touch ideal for sharing all the open-hearted love that the Brahms poured into it. Even the shortest work, Op.119's high-spirited, 1:28 Intermezzo in C Major, is so poetic as to evoke images of a delightful prancing horse.

The 7 Fantasias, Op.116 are filled with contrasts. From the dramatic opening Capriccio we move to the longing and tugging of Intermezzo in A minor. Levit's technique and sensibility, which allow individual notes to hang in space like suspended orbs of light, highlight his performance of No.4: Intermezzo in E major. Levit and Thielemann end this marvelous recording with a four-handed version of the Waltz in A major, Op.39/15.—Jason Victor Serinus

Dvorák: Symphonies Nos.7–9; Nature, Life, And Love
Czech Philharmonic/Semyon Bychkov
Pentatone Music PTC5187216 (2 CDs). Holger Urbach, prod.; Stephen Reh, eng.
Performance *****
Sonics ****½

As he did on Pentatone's recent Má vlast, here Bychkov finds occasion to put his own stamp on the Czechs' longstanding traditions in "their" music. An unusually cogent Eighth Symphony allows his sense of color full play, from the handsomely blended opening theme to the recap's powerful arrival. Bychkov provides a firm line through the Adagio's fragments, with vivid horns in the turbulent episode. Both here and in the New World, string chords are resonant and full-bodied. The ensuing waltz and the Finale's extended final variation are lovingly, movingly inflected.

The New World flows straightforwardly, though Bychkov allows the third theme room to relax. Despite an unduly protracted final chord, the Ninth delivers the sort of taut drama one expects from the Seventh.

Bychkov seems to find the Seventh's predominantly contrapuntal writing less congenial. The agogic into the first-movement recap lacks point, and the textural shift into the second group is unclear. The chordal, less active passages are clear enough, but, in the inner movements, coordination is sometimes questionable, even muddy. Bychkov plays the recap as a culmination, but then the elongated ritard between themes threatens to shift into reverse.

Amid Nature is a rocking pastoral, alternating graceful passages with severe tuttis. The weighted, moderately paced Carnival isn't just a rousing din; the English-horn episode sidesteps into Slavic melancholy. The opening sustained chord of Othello is an invocation in and of itself; the overture emerges in a grand dramatic arch.

The sonics are sufficiently directional to "place" various instrumental groupings across the soundstage, with pleasing Rudolfinum ambience. But the tutti chords concluding the Seventh Symphony's Scherzo, and passing bits elsewhere, are far too fierce and edgy.—Stephen Francis Vasta

The Kurt Weill Album: Symphonies Nos.1&2; The Seven Deadly Sins
Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Joana Mallwitz, cond.; Katharine Mehrling, vocals
Deutsche Grammophon 00028948656707 (CD, auditioned as 24/96). 2024. Philipp Nedel, prod., ed., mix; Matthias Erb, eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

Weill and Brecht's The Seven Deadly Sins receives one of its strongest performances since its vocal creator, Weill's wife Lotte Lenya, recorded it in monaural 23 years after its Paris premiere. Filled with irony, the work recounts the saga of Anna, whose personality is split into that of "Seller" and "Commodity," as she travels across the United States finding work and love as a cabaret singer. Anna starts her journey in Louisiana, then, accused by her male vocal quartet "family" of sloth, pride, anger, gluttony, lust, greed, and envy, travels to more cities then back to Louisiana.

Thinly disguised as religious commentary, The Seven Deadly Sins is in fact a biting critique of the grotesque, ladder-climbing challenges endemic to bourgeois capitalist society. As musically and thematically captivating as its creators' The Threepenny Opera, Mallwitz keeps it moving. Abetted by sonics that include fabulous percussion and a wide, deep soundstage, she scores extra points with vocalist Katharine Mehrling, whose grittily alluring instrument and distinct personality are a show in themselves.

Weill's gripping Symphony No.2, which its champion, conductor Bruno Walter, wanted to give a programmatic title to, is equally vital and tuneful. Begun in Berlin and premiered in Amsterdam in 1934, a year after the Jewish Weill and Walter separately fled Germany, it's a marvelous piece of music. I can't say the same about Weill's infrequently performed, intentionally disquieting First Symphony, a student effort from 1921 that received its first performance in 1958, eight years after the composer's death. Its inclusion helps us better appreciate the development of Weill's distinctive voice.—Jason Victor Serinus