Brucknerhaus
Seventies was the time I was bourn but I never really liked that decade. Primarily because the architecture was boring, the cars were faceless and the hell-of-shitty soviet empire seemed to be in full power. Those year the Brucknerhaus was built and it is boring as can be, looking almost depressive on the outside, almost spoiling the beautiful Danube shore of antique historical Linz where Bruckner spent a great deal of his partially strange life. The foyer is boring too and with that theatrical smell… “Oh, No, I can’t believe I feel it, just slightly but I do! But, anyway, no worries, it’s not that intense, rather in a normal, acceptable dose.”
The concert hall itself is small but very beautiful and that high quality built, so normal for Austrian interiors, and very noticeable when coming from anywhere else. Perfectly clean wooden parquet with ergonomic seats wrapped in high quality and tastefully textured and coloured fabric goes well with the acoustic treatment panels and the lively looking minimalist organ. Visibility and comfort are great including the finely treated fresh air making me so impatient to hear it filled with the mighty sound of Orchestre des Champs-Élysées and the interpretation of Philippe Herreweghe.
The first sounds of Bruckner’s 8th showed the acoustics of the hall neutral, flat and merely amplifying. Not that the flute pianissimo can be heard as if the flutist would stand nearby, it is clearly audible. The fortissimo, however, is slightly absorbed and as mighty as I’d like it to be. The orchestra is full of great musicians but hey sounded somewhat disintegrated, like they just played together a few times before this concert. Underrehearsed, this probably would be the verdict of a professional critic. The rhythm and synchrony are so much worse than the ideal performances of this masterpiece by Berlin or Munich Philharmony or Amsterdam Concertgebouw. But the timber of all instruments is nice and the most beautiful and massive heroic dramatic moments, so much loved by the audience and so well known to everyone, sound really well! In between, the orchestra is trying to put itself together under the conductor’s massive efforts leading him to almost jumping out of his trousers.
Second movement is Scherzo and its high tempo really saves the performance as it sounds really well. Almost no unclarity, so very common if the orchestra doesn’t have a good understanding of Bruckner’s ideas turning into awkward moments in stead of the pure beauty. The orchestra is already well warmed up and the sound is so much better, especially the woodwinds and the brass. Almost no out of pitch moments.
The Third movement is the most difficult as it is very slow and all the discrepancies, misunderstandings, vagueness and unclarity get exposed. Later on I begin to understand that they are just not serious: it’s a joke! They is some irony in their performance, they are not taking our beloved Bruckner’s masterpieces seriously but rather fooling us. And this helped me to appreciate this somewhat careless performance of the apocalyptic symphony.
The fourth moment is bringing even more certainty into my previous appreciation. Lovely timbres of all instruments, slightly brighter clarinets, probably of the French system, shiny brass and joyous violins, fat and juicy bases and tubas, slightly muted harps and very bright drums and percussion. Unusual French Bruckner, the character of Parisian anecdotes, the musical caricature of a typical Austrian, Viennese in the eyes of Parisian.
And the conclusion is: great concert, great time, great place… I’m going again in a month, let’s see, let’s hear!
