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5.0étoiles sur 5
Magical, Avril 15 2002
When Anton Bruckner visited Richard Wagner in 1873 at Bayreuth, where the composer was in the midst of his Herculean labors on the Ring cycle, Bruckner brought along with him the scores of his second and nearly-completed third symphonies, along with a few other works. Prior to that the two composers had spent time together during the delayed premiere of TRISTAN, though Bruckner had been too intimidated at the time to show Wagner any of his compositions. During the later meeting, however, whereas Wagner is said to have found Bruckner's 2nd too conservative, he was bowled over by the brashness of the 3rd -- especially by the trumpet fanfare in the opening. In the liner notes to this particular Naxos release, conductor Georg Tintner speculates that Wagner's verdict of the 2nd Symphony might be one of the reasons it has been, comparatively speaking, so infrequently peformed. Which is a gosh-darned shame because the second symphony of Anton Bruckner is, contrary to apparent popular belief, a mature, radiantly beautiful, serenly confident work. Though it doesn't plummet and scale some of the depths and heights of the composer's later works, it is, in my opinion, a quiet masterpiece -- more artistically successful, for instance, than the composer's third symphony. And, when it comes to Bruckner's slow movements, though many have tended to single out for praise those included in the later symphonies, those unfamilar with this work might very well be surprised over how achingly beautiful its walking-paced Andante truly is. Another reason to check out this recording is the inspired original decision by Bruckner to alter the placement order of the Scherzo and Andante. Tintner speculates that Bruckner might have been cowed in succession revisions of this symphony to default to a more classical ordering of the movements out of fear of comparison with Beethoven's 9th (a fear which, fortunately, fled Bruckner when it came time for him to work on his own 8th & 9th Symphonies). Whatever Bruckner's reason for the later change, the original ordering of his 2nd Symphony is truly more effective, with the buoyantly Haydnesque Scherzo coming between the magisterial serenity of the first and third movements. Personally, I am in completely in love with this symphony, and Tintner produces a wonderful, customarily sensitive, subtle and beautiful performance. Just buy it and enjoy!
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