The Hans Knappertsbusch Legacy

On this CD:

1. Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major ("Eine kleine Nachtmusik"), K. 525
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

2. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

3. Suite for orchestra No 3 in D major, BWV 1068
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

4. Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, BWV 1041
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with Wolfgang Schneiderhan

5. Symphony No. 4 in E flat (Romantic) (Original; Vienna; Karlsruhe; New York; Schalk & Löwe versions), WAB 104
Composed by Anton Bruckner
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

6. Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
Composed by Johannes Brahms
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

7. Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90
Composed by Johannes Brahms
Performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Tracks:

Symphony No. 8 In C Minor: Allegro Moderato
Symphony No. 8 In C Minor: Scherzo: Allegro Moderato - Trio: Langsam
Symphony No. 8 In C Minor: Adagio: Feierlich Langsam doch Nicht Schleppend
Symphony No. 8 In C Minor: Finale: Feierlich, Nicht Schnell

Tracks:

Symphony No. 9 In D Minor: Feierlich - Misterioso
Symphony No. 9 In D Minor: Scherzo - Bewegt, lebhaft - Trio: Schell
Symphony No. 9 In D Minor: Adagio - Langsam, Feierlich

Amazon.com

Notwithstanding his steadfast adherence to bowdlerized texts, these excellently recorded live performances are among the best examples of Hans Knappertsbusch's craggy, rubato-laden Bruckner conducting on record. While other labels offer these same performances, Tahra's sound is far superior, having been mastered from the original German radio tapes. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews:

Bruckner at his finest.......2004-06-25

Among other things, my recent retirement has given me an opportunity to return to and seek out marvelous recordings from the past. Currently, I'm experiencing a significantly richer, almost inspiring sense of appreciation of Bruckner's major symphonies. This is attributed partially to a re-discovery, but mainly to a new discovery of interpretations by Hans Knappertsbusch. For some time I have enjoyed particularly Eugen Jochum's DG Bruckner set as well as individual recordings by Schuricht, Van Beinum, Klemperer and Bohm. But these readings of the Bruckner Eighth and Ninth are just about the most soul satisfying I have ever heard. They seem to journey to a time long ago, and to bring me as close as I have ever been to the essence of Bruckner. Knappertsbusch is especially effective at displaying expansiveness, luminosity and caring detail. I enjoy the manner in which he elevates and draws out the high strings so as to heighten the lyrical and majestic elements as well as the way he and the sound engineers capture the tremolos in helping to impart a greater feeling of mystery and grandiosity. That these are mono recordings matters not one whit. The sound is very nice and the interpretations are memorable. If you are a Bruckner lover I recommend you grab recordings like these as soon as you can, since they might not be readily available for too much longer. They are absolute treasures. Furthermore, I believe no one will ever conduct Bruckner like this again.

Cathedrals in Sound.......2000-10-03

These Bruckner performances under Hans Knapperstbusch have appeared elsewhere (separately, for example, on CDs from Music and Arts), but these are the best remasterings yet, slightly on the expensive side, but worth the outlay. The sources are tapes of concerts, made by West German Radio, intended for later playback; the technical level is good early fifties monophonic sound, here mined by the remastering supervisor to extremely good effect. In both instances, the acoustic is fairly reverberant and the sense of the orchestra fairly immediate. And it's the Berlin Philharmonic, after all. They had played both these symphonies many times under Furtwangler and Knappertsbusch and many others. "Kna's" Bruckner resembles Furtwangler's, very improvistory in feeling, deeply probing in the adagio movements, mystical in atmosphere. The Ninth especially in the reading presented here ascends from the despair of the first movement and the demon-haunted scurryings of the scherzo to heavenly, timeless, illumination in the final pages of the mighty adagio-finale. These are good recorded performances for someone looking to add a historical dimension to a set of more recent, stereophonic, Bruckner symphonies.

Average customer rating:

Brahms and Bruckner with Heart

The Hans Knappertsbusch Legacy

Manufacturer: Tahra
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000DGYF
Release Date: 1998-11-03

Customer Reviews:

Brahms and Bruckner with Heart.......2000-07-06

Hans Knappertsbusch, known affectionately as "Kna," belongs to the generation of Austro-German conductors that includes Wilhelm Furtwaengler, Hermann Abendroth, and Karl Boehm. Like Furtwaengler, Kna was a Bavarian, a southern German, from the region known for its Catholic faith and easy-going (quite un-Protestant) ethos. "Kna" brings to his Brahms and Bruckner an intuitive, plastic interpretation, which differentiates his readings from the rather more severe ones of Furtwaengler and Abendroth. You could call this Brahms and Bruckner with heart. It is unsurprising that Kna shied from the rigors of Brahms' First Symphony. The bucolic Second was perfctly suited to his personality. He brings out the rustic qualities, the sense of undulating landscape in the rounded contours of the music. In the Bruckner Third, he identifies with the rural dance-impulse so important to and deeply embedded in this, perhaps the least appreciated, of Bruckner's nine numbered symphonies. Kna was an expert in, some might say an addict of, the technique known as rubato: the subtle slowing-dwn or speeding-up of the music to underscore melodic shape and dynamic change. Kna stands at the opposite pole of a contemporary Brahms and Bruckner interpreter like Sir Roger Norrington, who fixes the tempo for each movement and then adheres to it strictly, metronimically. Kna's is music-making based on the pulse and fed by the adrenal-rush that accompanies the unfolding of the musical argument. These are "historical" recordings. So don't expect the latest in spatially defined stereo sound. On the other hand, the warmth and ambiance of magnetic tape documents from the 1940s and 50s, even in mono sound, should not be underestimated. It is a different sound, to be sure, from the digital splendor of contemporary audio productions, but by no means inferior. The Tahra engineers have remastered their archival sources with an ear for depth and clarity. Many classical aficionados shy from the archival catalogue. This Tahra double-CD will prove to them, if they have the temerity to try it, how astonishing the older generation of baton-wielders could be in their concert readings and how faithful the older methods of music-recording could be, as well.