Bruckner - Symphony No.4
London Symphony Orchestra; Bernard Haitink
LSO Live LSO0716
Bruckner - Symphony No.4
Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal; Yannick Nézet-Séguin
ATMA ACD2 2667
This is Bernard Haitink’s third commercial recording of Bruckner’s popular Symphony No.4, in this instance using the Nowak edition of the score and culled from a pair of live performances from June 2011. The London Symphony Orchestra is unquestionably an outstanding ensemble with an exceptionally impressive string section, seated here in the European style with the violins divided right and left and the double basses to the left rear. The orchestra responds adroitly to the stolid octogenarian Haitink, a celebrated master of elucidating the ofttimes shambolic structure of Bruckner’s symphonies. Ultimately, however, all this excellence is undermined by the problematic acoustics of London’s Barbican Centre. The resplendent string tone is noticeably recessed and the sound-stage, though wide, lacks depth. Some tremendous brass playing, particularly from the closely-miked horn section, offers considerable recompense however.
No such problems mar the lively sound of Nézet-Séguin’s conventionally seated Métropolitain string ensemble, though they are a comparatively lean and slightly underpowered force compared to the LSO ensemble, with two fewer players in each section. The response from the judiciously balanced full orchestra is consistently precise, electric and blessed with a contagious enthusiasm and attention to dynamic shading that renders even the most meandering passages of Bruckner’s rambling discourse riveting. The performance utilizes the 1936 Haas edition in splendid studio sound recorded at Québec’s Église Saint-Ferdinand. Some may consider Nézet-Séguin’s overtly theatrical approach rather over-the-top in the Scherzo movement, where he drives his forces into a Berliozian frenzy, but for my money this is one of those rare Bruckner performances that commands my complete attention. The clear winner? The home team!
