# Bruckner Symphony No. 4



## mahlerenigmatic (Jul 12, 2020)

Just published a new video to YouTube.
It is the EMI 1970 Karajan BPO recording.


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## mahlerenigmatic (Jul 12, 2020)




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## Gray Bean (May 13, 2020)

This was my first Bruckner 4. Still a favorite!


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

My favourite Bruckner symphony. How can anyone dislike Bruckner after listening to this symphony???


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Judith said:


> My favourite Bruckner symphony. How can anyone dislike Bruckner after listening to this symphony???


You will find people on TC who will have a pretty good go! :lol:


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

mahlerenigmatic said:


>


tremendous performance. What Karajan called 'making your pallette'


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Gray Bean said:


> This was my first Bruckner 4. Still a favorite!


Yes, I first heard #7, liked it well enough, but then was really taken with #4....Walter/ColSO, still a favorite....
Barenboim/CSO is my top choice, amazing....esp in Barenboim/CSO complete Bruckner set....better remastering than previous reincarnations.


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## Gray Bean (May 13, 2020)

How interesting. Many collectors sneer at that Barenboim CSO cycle but I’ve always liked it. Much more exciting than his two remakes. And the CSO brass is to die for. The latest remastering is a success. I also have the LPs. 
Of course,

I would add that I like Solti/CSO in the music, too.


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## mahlerenigmatic (Jul 12, 2020)

Here is my entire playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGc8aVKLfVxG3y1QOeWXwWKkf1_eDfL1v


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Gray Bean said:


> How interesting. Many collectors sneer at that Barenboim CSO cycle but I've always liked it. Much more exciting than his two remakes. And the CSO brass is to die for. The latest remastering is a success. I also have the LPs. Of course, I would add that I like Solti/CSO in the music, too.


Yes, the Barenboim/CSO cycle on DG is really great...terrific sound, and wonderful performances...the dynamic range, like on #4, is really stunning!! Barenboim was young, so I think critics like to snipe at him for that, but it's a superior cycle, better than his later ones.
the Solti/CSO is classic - excellent throughout, with some real standouts - 3,6,7,8,9. [He's also the only one who makes sense out of #5, for me]


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

No. 4 “Romantic” is probably the most popular of Bruckner’s symphonies, isn’t it? I listen to it and No. 8 more than any of the others. There’s another Berliner Philharmoniker recording that I have in my collection, my favorite recording of No. 4: Muti, 1986, on the Seraphim label.


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## mahlerenigmatic (Jul 12, 2020)

Heck148 said:


> [He's also the only one who makes sense out of #5, for me]


 Just to prove to you l am not a total Karajan fan of the Bruckner cycle, here is who does the 5th the best imo.


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## mahlerenigmatic (Jul 12, 2020)

Gray Bean said:


> How interesting. Many collectors sneer at that Barenboim CSO cycle but I've always liked it.


 The reason why I don't like the Barenboim is pure and simple to me, it has nothing to do with the brass but with the violins in the beginning...










If you compare the two videos you can understand at what point l am refering to. Like the majority of most conductors, Barenboim interprets that part lacking emotion in the violins that Karajan provides.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Listening to this. Not sure about it. Opinions?


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

DavidA said:


> View attachment 139654
> 
> 
> Listening to this. Not sure about it. Opinions?


I thought it was great. Awesome playing from the VPO. Nice, relaxed Romantic warmth from Böhm's conducting. I suspect I might find him less successful in other Bruckner but I found his temperament to be a good match for this symphony.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

My favorites:


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## Gray Bean (May 13, 2020)

You hit on two of my favorites! Jochum on DG and the live Klemperer from Bavaria! Just add in Bruno Walter and the Columbia SO and you’d have a perfect trinity!


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

Knappertsbusch Vienna Studio, BPO 1944, and *Vienna Live 1964*



















And the one that gets the most spins:


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

mahlerenigmatic said:


> The reason why I don't like the Barenboim is pure and simple to me, it has nothing to do with the brass but with the violins in the beginning...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Been there done that. I really disliked the Barenboim Chicago cycle for this reason. But I explored through the set two years later and I was obsessed. The two orchestras are almost impossible to compare in Bruckner. Their approaches are too different. The string sound in the Chicago set is way more mellow and has less bite than the Berlin, and the differences in the 7th are even more prominent. The real deal of the Chicago set is the brass, but I love the way the strings sound too.


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## vincula (Jun 23, 2020)

I've got a few, but I'm fond of Kegel's. Got no. 3-9 from these obscure series of licensed radio broadcasts, which I've been spotting and snapping up here and there. Has taken me some time...









Regards,

Vincula


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## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

Philharmonia Orchestra
Otto Klemperer
Recorded: 1963-09-26
Recording Venue: 18-20 & 24-26 September 1963, Kingsway Hall, London

This one ticks all the boxes with me. Its the preferred Bruckner version for starts. The detail, clarity and performance is second to none. The scherzo is the deal breaker though. Klemperer takes a slower pace like no other and this suits the music. The music is allowed to breathe. What he also does , is not hang about in the slower movements. Absolute masterclass in symphony conducting.


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## vincula (Jun 23, 2020)

Absolutely top-class rendition. And the coupling with Wagner's _Siegfried's Idyll_ makes it a must buy for anyone. I was listening to Gunter Wand's live recording yesterday. A very different take on this symphony. A more serene view of the work.









Regards,

Vincula


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

I just bought this one:










Found it for $2 at the store. Couldn't pass it up. Thoughts? I'm normally not too big on Karajan's Bruckner, but I've been meaning to explore more of his EMI recordings


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I would be more than happy with only Celibidache's Munich recording, one of Wand's and a good Furtwangler ... but, of course, I have many more (many of which I enjoy a lot).


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Thoughts on Abbado?










Saw it at the same shop where I got the Karajan.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

flamencosketches said:


> I just bought this one:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's the one (with a different cover) that introduced me to Bruckner around 1987. He grew to be one of my favourite composers, so I have nothing bad to say about this disc. On the contrary.


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

The Abbado Bruckner 4 is lovely. It's not the most audacious interpretation, but it is beautiful and deeply committed, with some of the best playing from the Wiener Philharmoniker you'll ever hear. Abbado's pacing of the somewhat episodic fourth movement is especially convincing.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I have Rogner's 4th on Berlin Classics. It moves right along!


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

starthrower said:


> I have Rogner's 4th on Berlin Classics. It moves right along!


I heard this on Youtube once. I thought it was amazing. I want more fast Bruckner!


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

Having all the recordings and circles made for the Monk I could say that almost ALL of them are good. Herbie, Karl, Chelie, Jaap, Eugene, Günter, Takashi, Claudio, Carlo - Maria, and Co, ALL made super job with him. Who is better is matter ONLY of personal taste and of the moment. Sometimes, I like more the Hollander. Others, the Romanian shakes the house. And many, the Havana Man drives the Austrian to the Heaven, despite the fact that the Porsche Carrera Man made maybe the best all around circle, etc. You can never have enough of the Austrian. (Also many Russian directors made miracles with him) Take everything and have your head in peace.


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

Dimace said:


> Having all the recordings and circles made for the Monk I could say that almost ALL of them are good. Herbie, Karl, Chelie, Jaap, Eugene, Günter, Takashi, Claudio, Carlo - Maria, and Co, ALL made super job with him. Who is better is matter ONLY of personal taste and of the moment. Sometimes, I like more the Hollander. Others, the Romanian shakes the house. And many, the Havana Man drives the Austrian to the Heaven, despite the fact that the Porsche Carrera Man made maybe the best all around circle, etc. You can never have enough of the Austrian. (Also many Russian directors made miracles with him) Take everything and have your head in peace.


I am very much in agreement!


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