Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, WAB 103

Album review

For this 2011 recording of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 3, Marek Janowski and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande perform the 1889 revision, edited by Leopold Nowak. Considering the rush of younger conductors to record the original 1873 version (as a part of a growing movement to restore Bruckner's first versions as the most authoritative), Janowski is clearly bucking the trend by playing the most familiar edition that for decades had been accepted as standard by nearly all serious Brucknerians. Leaner and compact, the 1889 version is shorn of the original's Wagner quotations, shortened by several minutes, and argued more confidently and coherently; with Janowski's assertive interpretation, the music makes a strong case for Bruckner's pruning. Janowski clearly values efficiency, and his control of the symphony's shape and overall trajectory make it purposeful and even urgent, a far cry from the meandering readings that tend to make the original version seem indulgent and unnecessarily padded. PentaTone's extraordinary recording gives the symphony a fantastic audiophile presentation, and the orchestra is rich in tone colors and deep in dimensions, thanks to clear separation of parts and the spacious multichannel sound. Highly recommended, and well worth hearing, no matter which state of the symphony one prefers.

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