Kempe was a highly skilled conductor, who brings a notable sense of unity to this sprawling score even though he varies the pulse flexibly.
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| Rudolf Kempe |
More quotes from Chipman's review, which is in the download: "Kempe’s Munich Philharmonic plays with a tautly contained, smooth sonority and an intensity of concentration that rival the Chicago’s ... The acoustical ambience is ideal, neither resonant nor dry. Everything is beautifully proportioned, and the heftiest pages of the finale project clearly."
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| Anton Bruckner |
My transfer of the two-record set comes from a 1979 reissue on the American budget label Odyssey. I first tried transferring the set five years ago, but put it aside because of some obtrusive noise caused by a pressing fault. However, using a new turntable and stylus I've now been able to produce a noise-free version for this post.
The download includes scans from both the Odyssey and BASF releases.
The link below leads to the 16-bit, 44.1kHz version. A high-resolution transfer is available upon request.
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| Bruckner in his studio |
15 comments:
Bravo. Thank You for this treasure :-)
MPT - A pleasure!
Many thanks for this, looking forward to listening.
I thought that B major was an odd key to use (the only other symphony that comes to mind is by Haydn).
Then realized that of course it's the old germanic "B means B flat" trick at work (see the key signature of the manuscript shown in the sleeve notes).
Thanks again.
Hi Andrew - Thanks for your informative note!
Hi Buster, it's been a long time since I've sent a thank-you. Since my last comment, well over a year ago, I suffered a terrible loss, and it's taken this long to attempt a return to hobbies, interests, and everyday life. Tonight I found myself greatly in the mood to browse, and taking in the vast, eclectic array of goodies with (as always) your thoughtful, intelligent notes, pics, and art, I'm overwhelmed as ever, at your generosity. I marvel as usual at the enormous effort you put into each transfer - and all the bonus features that go with them. Though I've been away, and even if one day I too disappear from this forum forever, what you do and have done here means more than most of us can ever say. I could have replied to any of these great entries, but the Bruckner caught my eye at once, and was as good a place as any to say hello and convey my appreciation. Looking forward to downloading and listening! Hope this finds you well, and that you and your loved ones are happy, healthy and secure.
luckymike - My sincere condolences on your loss. I am so glad you have found some diversion here, and I am most grateful for your extremely kind and gracious note. My best to you.
I know what I believe to be this performance from an Artone set of Kempe/Bruckner. Without access to that set right now, I ask can you confirm that they are the same performance? I liked the one in that set. It moves forward in a way that keeps Brucknerian bloat to a minimum. The orchestra played pretty well, too. I have always been a Kempe fan and look forward to hearing your transfer. Thank you.
Anon - I am not familiar with the Artone set, but I have heard that it is the same performance. Let me know what you think.
What an excellent version , a rare recording that would deserve to be more known: Kempe is never heavy, balanced , manages incredibly the pianissimi passages, makes phrasings simple and keeps tempo so that the big structure of this masterpiece is more obvious. Many thanks Buster for this major discovery.
Thanks, Jean - it's always been a favorite of mine.
Thank you so much!
Quelle belle version ! Je suis un grand admirateur de Bruckner et je suis ravi de découvrir une version que je ne connaissais pas. Merci encore pour tout ce que tu fais sur ce blog. Bien à toi.
Thierry - Tellement heureux de pouvoir vous présenter cette excellente performance !
Just a comment. Bruckner was Austrian NOT German. Kempe's version of symphony 5 is very impressive
Anon - You're so right - let me fix that goof. Thanks!
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