B.G.'s Amazon 'customer review' of Rattle/BPO B9 w/finale

[barry guerrero]

http://www.amazon.com/review/RS77027C1SPSB/ref=cm_cr_rev_detup_redir?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx126U6CDHXEM0R&cdPage=1&asin=B007O3QC8K&newContentNum=2&store=music&cdThread=Tx27444S99P4TV4&newContentID=Mx3K8PWXHKIPT72#Mx2MXJKWR0QS5GZ

You're all perfectly welcome to disagree, but this is how I strongly feel about this issue.

[John Kim]

Barry,

A agree with your assessment of B9th:IV. But I would not go as far as B9th:1-III is greater than Mahler Ninth. They are both GREAT works but one isn't superior to the other.

I am not enthusiastic about Rattle's performance either. I mean, it's not bad but it's not special either. EMI created one of the worst sounds from the Berlin Philharmonie Hall: opaque, murky and of low resolution lacking details.

That said, I like Kurt Eichhorn's recording of the complete B9th. Not only Eichhorn does far better a job than Rattle, the version he used is better than the one used in the EMI recording.

John,

[ChrisH]

I would take Gerd Schaller's recording of the Bruckner 9 over Rattle or Eichorn. He uses the Carragan Finale too. This is the only 4 movement version of the 9th that I really like. It's an excellent recording.

http://www.amazon.com/Bruckner-Symphonies-Nos-Anton/dp/B0054DLNB8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1338666517&sr=1-1

The 4th and 7th in this set are also very special.

[John Kim]

I would take Gerd Schaller's recording of the Bruckner 9 over Rattle or Eichorn. He uses the Carragan Finale too. This is the only 4 movement version of the 9th that I really like. It's an excellent recording.

http://www.amazon.com/Bruckner-Symphonies-Nos-Anton/dp/B0054DLNB8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1338666517&sr=1-1

The 4th and 7th in this set are also very special.

I like Schaller's B9th recording very much for I-III, but I don't like Carragan's version of finale.

[barry guerrero]

I'll take it a step farther and state that I don't care about ANYBODY'S recording of B9 with a finale. I think the desire for a finale is totally unnecessary, and that what material there is sounds far more like a start to a 10th symphony.

[waderice]

I'll take it a step farther and state that I don't care about ANYBODY'S recording of B9 with a finale. I think the desire for a finale is totally unnecessary, and that what material there is sounds far more like a start to a 10th symphony.

Barry, I'll agree with you on this.  I think that the third movement of Bruckner's 9th is a perfectly valid musical farewell statement for a composer who knew that his time was near.  And as religious a man as Bruckner was, the tone that the third movement takes on proves that he was at peace with his Maker.

Wade