My “office” today is my office today.
I thought I’d just start the morning very early here where I work, anyway, rather than try to find a suitable restaurant with reliable wi-fi.
This way, I can stop posting to this blog, and start working with clients within a relatively short period of time.
Woo-hoo!
Now, on to the task for today…
This morning, I am listening to Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6 in A Major (WAB 106), interpreted by Australian conductor Simone Young (1961-).
Her orchestra is the Philharmoniker Hamburg.
I first encountered Maestro Young on this leg of my Bruckner journey on Day 5, Symphony No. 1.
Then again on Day 10, Symphony No. 2.
Then again on Day 16, Symphony No. 3.
Then again on Day 24, Symphony No. 4.
And again on Day 32, Symphony No. 5.
You can read what I thought of her interpretations by letting your mouse do the clicking on the various days above.
Or not.
It’s up to you.
Today is the sixth time I’m listening to a performance conducted by Ms. Young.
I previously wrote that I would not duplicate my bios of Ms. Young and her orchestra. Also, I will not again mention the problem with the CD booklet/liner notes. Or my solution to it. If you want to know about that, click the links above.
Again, or not.
Your choice.
Since I am in a more business-like setting today, I figure I’ll just get right down to it.
Here are the objective aspects of today’s recording:
Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6 in A Major (WAB 106), composed 1879–1881
Simone Young conducts
Young used the ??? version. No version is listed in the CD booklet, on the CD sleeve, or in the pdf notes I downloaded from the web site
Philharmoniker Hamburg plays
The symphony clocks in at 54:37
This was recorded in Hamburg, Germany, on December 14-16, 2013
Young was 52 when she conducted it
Bruckner was 57 when he finished composing it (the first time)
This recording was released on the OEHMS Classics label
Bruckner wrote his symphonies in four movements. The time breakdown of this one (Symphony No. 6 in A Major), from this particular conductor (Young) and this particular orchestra (Philharmoniker Hamburg) is as follows:
I: Majestoso…………………………………………………………………………………………………………15:26
II: Adagio. Sehr feierlich (Very solemnly)……………………………………………………………16:08
III: Scherzo. Nicht schnell (Not fast) — Trio. Langsam (Slowly)…………………………..8:36
IV: Finale. Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell (With motion, but not too fast)………..14:24
Total Time: 54:37
Okay. Now, here are the subjective aspects of today’s recording:
My Rating:
Recording quality: 4
Overall musicianship: 4
CD liner notes: 2 (meager notes, confusing layout, essentially an “ad” for the Hamburg State Councillor of Culture and the Hamburg Philharmonic)
How does this make me feel: 5
I can’t believe I’m going to print this…
“Huzzah!”
This performance was everything I like hearing in a conductor’s interpretation of a Bruckner symphony. It was magical, spacious, energetic, engaging.
What’s more, it wasn’t bloated, overblown, lengthy to the point of Ass Hurt. (Although Maestro Young’s Adagio is a bit longer than previous second movements.)
This was a sprightly, witty performance – especially the Scherzo. But I also found the Finale to be stirring.
I recommend this performance.
But…
I just found another reason why I don’t like this box set’s “liner notes.”
I just tried to find the running times for each of the four movements. I didn’t have the slim liner notes booklet that came with the box set with me. So I looked on the back of the CD sleeve:
Nope.
I really dislike it when the label can’t be bothered to break down each of the movements by time on the CD sleeve. That’s just really, really lazy.
From there, I looked in the pdf of the actual liners notes I downloaded from the label’s web site.
Nope.
Believe it or not, in the 56 pages of notes in the pdf there’s not one mention of how long the tracks are for each movement for any of the symphonies in the box!
However, that information is virtually all that’s included in the “liner notes” inside the box.
So, let me get this straight.
1. The CD sleeve doesn’t tell us how long each track is.
2. The pdf booklet that was supposed to be the liner notes included with the box set doesn’t tell us how long each track is.
3. The “liner notes” in the box set that provide virtually no information about Bruckner, Simone Young, or the symphonies does tell us how long each track is.
So, essentially, what OEHMS Classics has given us is liner notes in three parts. If you put all of them together (CD sleeve, “liner notes,” and pdf download) you can glean information about the recordings in the box set.
Is that crazy, or what?
I’m tempted to remove that “Huzzah!” rating just to spite OEHMS Classics.