# Bruckner now - holy cow! What have I gotten myself into??



## ccravens (Oct 15, 2013)

OK, so I'm innocently going along, re-discovering my love of classical music, digitizing my CD's, joining a forum, going through composers somewhat alphabetically. Got some good Barber, Borodin, etc. last week. 

Now I come to Bruckner. What's the problem right? I know he has several awesome symphonies that I need to get and listen to closely; should be pretty straightforward, then I find out things like:

revisions, rewrites, an abundance of conductors and their interpretations of the different revsions and rewrites.

*Holy smokes!* Do I worry about getting the original 3rd, or a revision; if so, which revision, and if an original or revision, which conductor? His symphonies are long; do I want a composer who doesn't let things lag, since the works are long enough already, or one who will take the time to draw out and let the music speak at it's own pace, etc. etc?

Almost makes me want to give up before I've begun. 

And YES, I spent a few hours reading ALL of the older Bruckner threads (about 40) on this site, to do dilligence before asking dumb questions. Only problem is after all of that reading, I'm more confused than ever.

*HELP!*

1. I just want one (for now) recording of each symphony.
2. I generally stay away from live recordings (people coughing chaps my hide) and tend to like more recent recordings for the sound quality.

So, should I 
*just get all of one composer's set (Wand, for example, but I think those are live)
*just go one symphony at a time, get the recommended version and conductor, then go to the next

Needless to say, any help would be appreciated!
:tiphat:


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## Copperears (Nov 10, 2013)

If you want to get symphonies by the dross, the Tintner collection seems to get good reviews (with Scottish National Symphony). I personally like the Barenboim/Chicago Symphony cycle (for the Chicago horns!) but I'm a newb to Bruckner. So far, he feels like he's somewhere between Wagner and Mahler, a little less intense to listen to than either but still with great horn passages (I know that's not relevant to your search, just context for my recommendations). Nobody else online seems to like the Barenboim.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

I have the Wand set and they are not live, or if they are, you hear no audience noise whatsoever. I'm very pleased with the set though I have no other comparison.


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## AClockworkOrange (May 24, 2012)

The Wand recordings with the Berlin were taken from 2-3 live performances to ensure that there would be no crowd noise. These are fantastic recordings both from an interpretative standpoint and from the perspective of sound quality,


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

ccravens said:


> *Holy smokes!* Do I worry about getting the original 3rd, or a revision; if so, which revision, and if an original or revision, which conductor? His symphonies are long; do I want a composer who doesn't let things lag, since the works are long enough already, or one who will take the time to draw out and let the music speak at it's own pace, etc. etc.


In my opinion, if you're just starting out, don't worry about the different versions, _except_ for the third. All of the others are acceptable in any form (minus some of the early published versions that no one today plays anyway).


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Wand has the greatest balance of interpretation, execution, and sound quality. There are a handful of others who have made fine cycles, but they have more obvious quirks that put them a click below.

http://www.amazon.com/Bruckner-Symphonies-Nos-1-9/dp/B0042U2HLY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384530731&sr=8-1&keywords=wand+bruckner


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## ccravens (Oct 15, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> In my opinion, if you're just starting out, don't worry about the different versions, _except_ for the third.


Would Wand's version of the 3rd be good in your opinion?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

ccravens said:


> Would Wand's version of the 3rd be good in your opinion?


No, unfortunately (because the rest of the set is indeed great). He uses the problematic 1889 revision. I ranted about this on another thread recently. Maybe you'll feel differently, though.


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## ccravens (Oct 15, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> No, unfortunately (because the rest of the set is indeed great). He uses the problematic 1889 revision. I ranted about this on another thread recently. Maybe you'll feel differently, though.


Fair enough. I think I'm just going to go with the Wand set to make it easier, since I'm a newbie at Bruckner.

Any suggestions of recordings for the third, given my preference for sound quality?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

ccravens said:


> Fair enough. I think I'm just going to go with the Wand set to make it easier, since I'm a newbie at Bruckner.
> 
> Any suggestions of recordings for the third, given my preference for sound quality?


Simone Young's is a live recording, but without prominent audience noise. It's available on SACD hybrid.


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