Lovro von Matacic recorded this symphony commercially for Supraphon with the Czech Philharmonic, in the bizarre Schalk edition with its loony additional piccolo and percussion in the finale (among other perversions of Bruckner’s intentions). In all honesty, it was a fun performance of a symphony that is usually anything but. This performance offers Bruckner’s kind-of original version. I say “kind-of” because, although Schalk is largely gone, Matacic himself has effectively made his own edition, with lots of retouching (timpani and brass especially) that stays basically within Bruckner’s initial parameters but also includes major tempo adjustments that wreak havoc with Bruckner’s carefully built symphonic structures. For example, Matacic rips through the end of the first movement in a steadily accelerating tempo that would have made Furtwängler blush.
The fleet, crudely played scherzo evinces not a shred of an Austrian lilt, but Matacic knows how to sustain the adagio despite an orchestra obviously at odds, timbrally speaking, with the music. He does Jochum one better in the final chorale, slamming on the brakes and quartering the tempo to ear-splittingly vulgar effect, particularly given the approximate brass intonation, the trumpet-led basic sonority, and the less-than-rich string tone. Still, the orchestra sounds defiantly committed (if progressively more tired) to what ultimately is a dubious cause, and Bruckner completists may want this as a curiosity, while others may value a memento of this conductor. The Radio France recording is honest, for better or worse, and the rating reflects the success of the orchestra’s realization of Matacic’s edition. Strictly speaking, this isn’t really comparable to other versions, but one thing is certain: Great Bruckner it ain’t.
