Bruckner 9: Bolton / Salzburg Mozarteum (in English)

[Choo Choo]

Timings: 25:23, 9:54, 22:05



The orchestra of the Salzburg Mozarteum is not an obvious choice for a major Bruckner symphony. Though much more than a mere chamber ensemble, the lighter and more precise touch which they tend to bring to their performances would be seen by some as inappropriate to an effective realisation of these massive works – a view borne out to some extent by their earlier, somewhat uninspired, and entirely dispensable recordings under Herbert Soudant. In recent years, however, a quiet revolution has been taking place under the baton of British conductor Ivor Bolton, a man who clearly knows his way around a Bruckner symphony.

Critical opinion was divided over the Fifth Symphony which the new team released in 2005. David Hurwitz of ClassicsToday was particularly scathing about what he saw as their lack of sufficient weight for the task - and certainly it was not Bruckner to lift the roof off. However it happened to land on my desk at the end of an exhausting comparative survey of 5ths, during which I had had to endure far too many lumbering, overwrought, not to say lurid, performances than was good for the sanity – and in that context, the freshness of the Mozarteum’s approach came as a delightful surprise. I still include it as a reference in any comparison: there is an honesty and immediacy in its unfussy presentation which puts you in direct contact with Bruckner’s design and brings out the joy inherent in it

When a Seventh was released a couple of years ago, however, I found myself tending to side with the majority view. If you are not going to perform this as a straight-out chamber piece (which can be made to work, as e.g. the Linos Ensemble demonstrate) then it takes a substantial and well-planned deployment of forces to bring it off successfully. The Mozarteum seemed to fall into an uncommitted no-man’s-land: there was nothing actually wrong with their interpretation - it just lacked the kind of verve required to lift a performance of this well-worn symphony above the average.<O

So I am pleased to report that this new recording of the Ninth puts the Mozarteum back firmly on the upward trajectory. Refreshingly free from theory and experiment for its own sake, what you get here is a stylish and distinctive but uncontroversial modern interpretation done to a high standard, clear and balanced and powerful, delivered with emphasis and passion, and sensitivity without self-indulgence. This is one of the better – and, crucially, more enjoyable – Ninths that I have heard recently, and a solid, if unspectacular, recommendation.

There is nothing underweight about the sonic experience, either. However it is a live concert recording, and the balance can be a little uneven – particularly where it gives prominence to what can sound, as a result, like a mildly hysterical tympanist. At times too the brass can seem to retreat, whereas at others it’s the strings that seem slightly recessed in the mix. But overall, these are minor points which do not detract from the performance. It makes use of the 2000 Cohrs edition, which puts it in competition with Harnoncourt – and while the Mozarteum may not have the sheer heft of the Vienna Philharmonic, Bolton manages to achieve so much more with them, as actually to come out well ahead in a side-by-side comparison.

These Bruckner symphonies tend to trickle out of Salzburg</ST1 so infrequently that you can hardly call them a “cycle”, nonetheless they are the new recordings that I look forward to with the greatest sense of anticipation. It cannot be too long now before the Fourth breaks surface.