Bruckner: Symphony No.7 in E major (Philippe Herreweghe)

Album review

This is the first recording of the original version of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 on period instruments. Who would have thought it would take this long? But since Norrington and Harnoncourt, the two other likely conducting contenders, have not gotten around to the Seventh yet, it turns out that Philippe Herreweghe and his Orchestre des Champs-Elysees became the first to take on the Seventh with catgut strings and period winds and brass. But while there are impressive moments and extraordinary passages in this performance, it is, overall, a failure. The inwardness at the start of the opening Allegro moderato is exquisite and the gravitas of the brass at the close of the central Adagio is bottomless, but most of the time, the performance seems lightweight and the interpretation seems superficial. The problem is not that the strings are occasionally lean and hard, or that the winds are sometimes piquant and tart, or that the brass are too often raw and rowdy. The problem is not that Herreweghe lacks Brucknerian credentials: his recording of the master's Mass in E minor is deeply beautiful and profoundly spiritual. The problem is that this particular performance of Bruckner's Seventh simply does not hang together over the long run. After the inward opening, the rest of the Allegro moderato wanders lost and lonely. Before the gravitas of the closing, the rest of the Adagio is dainty and desultory. And the rest of the performance is even more lost and desultory, themes meandering aimlessly, harmonies modulating pointlessly, and structures vast, confused, and rambling. Harmonia Mundi's sound is rich, deep, warm, and real. Because this is the original version of the Seventh, Herreweghe does not include the spurious cymbal clash at the climax of the Adagio.
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