Audition: Bruckner - Symphony No 4, Blomstedt, Gewandhaus Orchestra. #Brucknerthon2025

 SACD Querstand - issued by the orchestra

Blomstedt’s first recording was in 1984 with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. This recording is from a live performance was released in 2012. It was only released as a SACD singly or as a cycle. Blomstedt is still conducting - one wonders if he wants to deal with this problematic symphony again.

My problems with the symphony are neither here or there, many people enjoy it as it is. My worries go further than Bruckner’s attempts to fit his concept into a sensible structure. His scoring is a bit clunky and transitions not as subtle as Bruckner would use later.

Blomstedt manages the climaxes well throughout and knows how to make the build up exciting and, on occasion, thrilling. But there are times in the slower music where he and the orchestra are unduly relaxed and things sag.

The orchestra isn’t the orchestral powerhouse processing a unique sound it once was, though the brass are fabulous if somewhat reined in - there’s a real nice blending but solid delineation between the instruments (Bruckner incorporates a tuba for the first time in his symphonies). Unfortunately for the rest of the orchestra whilst good is subject to the vagaries of the recording. Times where the woodwinds disappear in the sound picture and others where they are too close to being drowned out by the strings.

In the second movement the viola section conjure up some fabulous playing but by highlighting them the focus of the second section of the violins withdraw somewhat. Note the violins are split left and right but the recording is not effective all the time. 

Worth pointing out one jewel: iIn the finale Blomstedt creates magic with the transition passage after letter O in the score which conjures up a memory of those dissonant passages in the Ninth symphony - it’s a real surprise.

Overall the SACD quality doesn’t remotely meet the best in the field. I suspect the sound source wasn’t well produced (hard to do with a live performance but recording as a whole is stymied by orchestra. conductor, recording and Bruckner’s clumsy score.

Blomstedt avoids controversy utilising the 1878/80 version.

Interpretation 7 out of ten

Performance 8 out of ten

Recording 6 out of ten