Bruckner, A.: Symphony No. 7

Albumbeschreibung

In 1979, Yuri Ahronovitch recorded Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 in E major with the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, delivering an extremely expansive and long-breathed reading that was typical of post-Romantic interpretations earlier in the 20th century, but it seems quite indulgent and perhaps even lax by modern standards. Certainly, Ahronovitch's timing at over 67 minutes puts the symphony in the moderately slow category, and though there are recordings that are somewhat longer, this one feels inordinately dragged out. Ahronovitch allows himself considerable flexibility in his free use of rubato, frequently slowing down for a beautiful turn of phrase at a moment's notice, and occasionally humming along out of tune, as if that helps to make the melody more expressive. Beyond that, and perhaps most troubling, the sense of architecture that is so essential to Bruckner's symphonies seems not to have mattered much to Ahronovitch, who stretches the movements out of shape with spontaneous allargandos and puts the affect of the moment over the effect of the whole. So it does seem that the performance could have used some tightening, much better control over the conductor's vocals, and a better feeling for the work's trajectory. Yet there are some old school Bruckner fans who will appreciate the hyper-emotional interpretation and not mind Ahronovitch's slow tempos or his other liberties, so this recording will still find a few admirers. For its time, this is a surprisingly clean live recording with few distractions from the audience.
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