18 July 2010

Christian Thielemann's Bruckner 4th and 7th on DVD

I watched this DVD back in April. I even extracted the sound track for playing in an ordinary CD player. I was amazed. Thielemann remains almost the only one to have a distinct sound palette for Bruckner these days. I was too busy to write anything about it until now.

The orchestra sings with a sexy, deep voice. There is ample resonance of the basses, I don't mean just the double basses but the bass part of the vocal quartet, if Bruckner's  orchestration is thought of as such.  In a sense his sound picture places an emphasis on the bass-baritone part of the vocal palette whereas other orchestras, especially American ones, tend to go for the alto, or even soprano, part.

He favoured a slow tempo, but nothing like Celibidache. Whereas the latter usually evokes a vision of the otherworld, Thielemann convinces me with a sense of seriousness and dutifulness, and deep passions and emotions are not overtly displayed but nicely and thinly covered by the symphonic scaffolding.

This should not be missed.