Album

Can Klaus Tennstedt conduct Bruckner? Can one of the most intensely charismatic Mahler interpreters of the last years of the twentieth century really conduct Bruckner? Most of the great Mahler conductors of the last years of the century—Bernstein, Solti, Kubelík, Abbado—rarely conducted Bruckner, and when they did, as in the case of Bernstein's Ninth, the results were disastrous. Heretofore, Tennstedt had only been on a 1982 EMI recording of Bruckner's Eighth with the London Philharmonic in the catalog, but from that recording it seemed clear that Klaus Tennstedt was no Bruckner conductor.

Like the 1982 Eighth, Tennstedt's 1976 recording of Bruckner's Third with the Symphonie Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is intensely charismatic, a wonderful quality in Mahler, whose music is about yearning and striving, but it has nothing to do with Bruckner, whose music is about being and becoming. With his brave Bavarians beside him, Tennstedt leads a mounted assault on Bruckner's Third, sweeping through themes and over developments to take the final climax with sheer sonic power. But it's entirely beside the point. For all the charismatic intensity of Tennstedt's interpretation, Bruckner's Third is not about getting from here to there, but about being here, there, and everywhere—and the more Tennstedt strives, the less he succeeds. Profil's radio broadcast sound is a bit rough, but very evocative.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide

CD 1
Anton Bruckner Composer Symphony No.3 in D-, WAB103 ('Wagner') Work 52:09 Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt Conductor
1	1.Gemässigt, misterioso	19:42			$3.49
2	2.Adagio. Bewegt, quasi andante	14:41			$2.49
3	3.Scherzo: Ziemlich schnell	6:51			$0.99
4	4.Finale: Allegro	10:55			$1.99