Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne/François-Xavier Roth
Myrios MYR033 61:45 mins
There’s something unique about the original version of Bruckner’s Third Symphony. Stylistically, it’s poised between the old Bruckner and the new: still partly rooted in the rococo liturgical music Bruckner grew up with, but beginning to surrender to the siren-call of Wagner’s erotically charged mysticism. In terms of scale, it’s huge, spacious, unfolding slowly, however fast it may seem to move on the surface.
But there are times when you could almost be in church with Mozart or with either of the Haydns. No version I’ve heard manages to encompass all this perfectly (perhaps that’s impossible), and François-Xavier Roth’s interpretation leans more towards the 18th than the 19th century.
There are clear gains. The sense of steady flow is gently but firmly compelling, while the lighter touch, especially from the Gürzenich strings, liberates Bruckner’s repeated accompaniment figurations – how heavy they seem when delivered with plush late-Romantic portentousness.
But there’s less sense of what this music is straining towards. In the hands of Georg Tintner (old school, but often inspired), for example, that strange mixture of patience and intense longing that’s peculiar (in both senses) to Bruckner comes across beautifully. The luscious chastity of Lohengrin, which had already made such a profound impression on Bruckner, is definitely present in Tintner’s version.
Here it’s more chastity. It can be genuinely beatific, but without that heavenly/earthly tension, it has a tendency to be one-sided. This is definitely worth hearing, and it certainly gave me food for thought, but as a repeatable, all-round authoritative Bruckner Third, it doesn’t really measure up.
