Bruckner, 卡尔·伯姆 Karl Böhm(boehm Bohm)

While noted for his interpretations of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Bruckner and Strauss, Bohm is generally not the first conductor I think of when it comes to Beethoven. That said, he has always proven to be a gifted accompanist, and that holds here as well. He and Pollini seem to share a similar vision for this work, and thus both the soloist and orchestral forces work towards the same end goal.

While noted for his interpretations of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Bruckner and Strauss, Bohm is generally not the first conductor I think of when it comes to Beethoven. That said, he has always proven to be a gifted accompanist, and that holds here as well. He and Pollini seem to share a similar vision for this work, and thus both the soloist and orchestral forces work towards the same end goal.

Bohm conducts Bruckner's 1889 revised score which represents the composer's final thoughts on his Third Symphony. As Bruckner matured - artistically speaking - his thoughts turned towards a more Beethovenian "Classical" view of symphonic music, in the Brahms mould, and the references to Wagner's - the Third's dedicatee - music were excised, all but one, from the score of the Third Symphony. This purity of symphonic form allowed Bruckner to present his musical thoughts in such a way that the music's inner logic conveyed a more well-structured architecture, allowing Bruckner's - and not Wagner's - voice to ring-out, loud and clear.

He did not thrust himself into the limelight but put himself, with economical, clear gestures, entirely at the service of the music: amongst the conductors of his time, Karl Böhm epitomized the anti-star. In the summer of 1964 he delighted the Lucerne audience with a compellingly flowing and cantabile reading of Bruckner’s Seventh – of course at the helm of “his” Vienna Philharmonic, with whom he was also to perform a buoyant Hindemith concerto six years later.

During his lifetime, Karl Böhm was a widely appreciated conductor of Bruckner with a thoroughly personal tone of his own to put up for discussion. The present recording of the Seventh Symphony with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was made in 1977 and is therefore the latest made by Böhm of this work. One can see especially clearly how Böhm performs Bruckner in the Seventh Symphony, the work which opens the trio of “Adagio Symphonies” but deviates from strictly symphonic writing in its lyrically wandering character. He avoids all semblance of enraptured, otherworldly monumentality with cantabile, long-breathed phrasing, loving attention to sonic and melodic detail and with a well thought-out dramaturgy of tempi. Böhm’s Bruckner shines in luminous colours and is infused with the warmth of an ever-present singing quality. This is no high-priest’s celebration of cool, distant symphonic architecture, but a down-to-earth, accessible Bruckner interpretation.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Eine kleine Nachtmusik KV 525 / Serenata KV 239 / Sinfonia KV 364
Wiener Philharmoniker / Berliner Philharmoniker / Karl Böhm
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 303 MB | Full Artwork: 20 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Deutsche Grammophon "Resonance" # 427 208-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1980's / 1990's
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

Karl August Leopold Böhm (1894 – 1981) was an Austrian conductor. (…) Böhm was praised for his rhythmically robust interpretations of the operas and symphonies of Mozart, and in the 1960s he was entrusted with recording all the Mozart symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic. His brisk, straightforward way with Wagner won adherents, as did his readings of the symphonies of Brahms, Bruckner and Schubert. His 1971 complete recording of the Beethoven symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic was also highly regarded. On a less common front, he championed and recorded Alban Berg's avant-garde operas Wozzeck and Lulu before they gained a foothold in the standard repertory. Böhm mentioned in the notes to his recordings of these works that he and Berg discussed the orchestrations, leading to changes in the score (as he had similarly done, previously, with Richard Strauss). He received numerous honors, among them first Austrian Generalmusikdirektor in 1964.