Symphony No. 00/Finale to No.

RECORDING: 9 out of 10.

THE "STUDY" SYMPHONY:

Fortunately, there is only one version of this symphony. It is full of Beethovenian, Mozartian, Mendelssohnian and Schumannesque touches. The scherzo is the most original of the movements. Some conductors tried to inflate this symphony to sound like the others. Wisely, Tintner steers clear of that temptation. The 1st Symphony is quantum leap above this and was only written a couple of years later. Nevertheless, it is quite a pleasant piece. The edition is by Nowak. (The total time of this performance is shorter than those of other conductors. This is simply because Tintner did not repeat the expositions in the outer movements, not because he adopted any controversial tempos.)

THE "VOLKSFEST" FINALE OF THE 4TH:

This is the 1878 version of the finale (ed. Nowak). One can play this after the first three movements of the "1878-80" version which Tintner recorded for this series. It's a shortened and simplified reworking of the original finale of 1874. Like the 1874 finale, the "Volkfest" lacks the slow c minor section (repeated in different keys) that Bruckner added to the "1878-80" version. It's an interesting piece, but I could never prefer it over the "1878-80" finale.

SUMMARY:

This CD lives up to the high standards that Dr. Tintner and Naxos have set. I heartily recommend the entire series to all those who are unfamiliar with the composer and to comparative "Brucknerheads".

Symphony "00" is an exercise during Bruckner's studies. It is clearly not mature Bruckner. Tintner, in the acompanying booklet, compares it to Schumann and Mendelsohn. As a Scandinavian, I am even reminded of Grieg sometimes (his symphony, also an early work, is contemporary with Bruckners "00"), but he was also influenced by Mendelsohn, so Tintner is, of course, right. Then, in the middle of it all, you can hear the coming Bruckner (ending of first movement, scherzo). The juxtaposition of Mendelsohn and Bruckner, and the glimpse of Bruckner's development as a composer, is fascinating! It seems that he went through both a Mendelsohn period and a Wagner period, with more and more of himself, before he became the "real" Bruckner - nobody else could have written his 9th!