An emotionally charged performance of Bruckner’s Eighth symphony was on offer from Zubin Mehta and the Staatskapelle Berlin in their Good Friday concert in the Philharmonie, Berlin. A feast for brass lovers everywhere.
In an opening reminiscent of the opening of Beethoven’s Ninth, the violins crept in. A stunning pianissimo followed as the Wagner tubas and oboe parleyed fragments atop shimmering strings. It is so rare to see attention lavished on the violas and 2nd violins, but Bruckner understood the important role these oft neglected instruments play in the orchestral texture, and Mehta duly encouraged them to wallow in the limelight.
Clare Varney | BACHTRACK
Taking a bow
About the Staatskapelle Berlin
The Staatskapelle Berlin is one of the oldest orchestras in the world, dating back to 1570 when it was originally founded by Prince-Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg. In 1742, it expanded its activities with the Founding of a Royal Court under by Frederick the Great. Since then has been closely tied to Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
Staatskapelleberlin.nl
Click here to read a very interesting article detailing the orchestra’s life under two dictatorships – the Nazis and then subsequently the communist GDR, the near destruction of the opera house in 1945 and its reopening in 1955, and the musician’s life in the newly-formed East Germany before collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1991.
About Zubin Mehta
So many recordings
The Staatskapelle Berlin and Daniel Barenboim
The Staatskapelle Berlin recorded all nine Bruckner symphonies in the early 2010s with chief conductor at the time, Daniel Barenboim. Completing a cycle of Bruckner symphonies in New York’s Carnegie Hall in 2017, the first ever Bruckner cycle in the United States, prompted a re-release.
Haitink and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
A young Bernard Haitink with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1969. Quite a different interpretation with much sprightlier speeds and an added dynamism. Well worth a listen!
Herbert Blomstedt on Bruckner 8 with the Gewandhousorchester
I came upon an interesting article by Michael McManus in Gramophone Magazine where Herbert Blomstedt talks about the many performances he has made over the years of the Eighth symphony, a work that’s nothing short of miraculous… It takes ten times as long to study, as compared with Beethoven or Mozart, but it’s worth it. It’s a miracle, how it’s possible to put all this together – and crazily ambitious, asking the impossible of musicians and also of listeners. This is a miracle symphony.
Click on the picture below to listen to the Adagio performed by the Gewandhausorchester with Herbert Blomstedt. This third movement reveals a deep inner beauty and is a perfect example of a Bruckner symphony which deserves repeated listening. Wonderful string writing (especially for the inner parts) coupled with beautiful horn melodies and endless brass climaxes capture my heart. And the opening of the finale, sounding so like the opening of a John Williams score, never fails to bring a smile!
A blast from the past | The Staatskapelle Berlin at the BBC Proms, 2013
The last time I hear the Staatskapelle Berlin was at the BBC Proms in a performance of Götterdämmerung on July 28th, 2013 with Daniel Barenboim, their chief conductor at the time, and the Royal Opera Chorus performing the first ever complete Wagner Ring cycle in a single Proms season. I must say, I tend to agree with the Bachtrack reviewer on the night, David Allen, who concluded that the world ended again last night in his 5 star review. The lengthy silence at the end was hugely meaningful, not forced or planned but a necessary prerequisite for a return to normality after the emotional turmoil of the previous three hours.
This concert was reviewed at the Philharmonie, Berlin on Friday 29th March, 2024
Click here to read the full review on Bachtrack
Read more from Clare
Gustavo Dudamel and the Berliner Philharmoniker raise the roof with a spellbinding Mahler 5
Mäkelä and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra continue the fine tradition of Christmas Day concerts
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