Posted by John Rasmussen on September 20, 19102 at 11:09:07:

In Reply to: Re: Masur's Bruckner posted by Ara A. on September 18, 19102 at 21:38:36:

Tempos that are either too slow or too fast seem to cause problems. But style and spirit are more important than tempo. There is a wide range of "right" tempos for Bruckner, each depending on the individual conductor and orchestra.

Musicians also know that perception of tempo can be affected by a hall's acoustics, by the number of players involved (the more the slower), and by fatigue level or emotional state. The somewhat heavy-sounding New York Philharmonic often seems to be playing slower than the lighter-sounding Philharmonia Orchestra.

Listen to Sergiu Celibidache's recordings for a wonderful example of slow tempos that work. His B6 is especially fine for this; the first movement is broad but never ponderous, the second movement is unusually slow and unutterably beautiful, while he takes the last two movements at more orthodox tempi. On the other hand, his B8 does seem too slow in the first and last movements; still, I would not be without that recording for its magnificent playing and deep spirit.

I used to have an early Klemperer recording of B4 (till the cette wore out) whose timings were ten minutes shorter than most modern recordings! But the style was so right for Bruckner that the fast tempos worked.

Music is a living, evolving art.

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