Kurt Masur’s Bruckner Symphony cycle enters a market overgrown with complete sets, a situation that was impossible to imagine at the end of the LP era, when only Barenboim’s was easily available domestically. This new release doesn’t really justify its existence: Masur’s readings, while reflecting the requisite musicianship and the conductor’s obvious understanding of the Brucknerian idiom, are not particularly distinctive. As with his Beethoven, Masur’s Bruckner is pretty much plain-faced, its interpretive uniqueness hard to detect. Thus, Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8 sound run-of-the-mill, while 3 and 4 are intermittently stimulating. Only Nos. 7 and 9 stand out as deeply considered and fully convincing interpretations.
The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra provides its time-honored robust sonority (especially in the strings), yet Masur inexplicably keeps the brass under wraps for most of the cycle, which makes the Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth–among the most brass-dependent works–sound bland. Of course, a good deal of this impression can be attributed to the overall murky sound of the 1970s recordings. Nos. 1, 2, 5, and 6 are among the worst in this regard; 3, 4, and 7 are noticeably better. Yet only the Ninth has the kind of clarity you would normally expect from a first-class production–and it’s fitting that this is the most imposing and incisive performance of the set. Given these limitations it’s hard to recommend Masur’s Bruckner as a first choice, especially when there are infinitely finer budget-priced offerings from Jochum, Skrowaczewski, and Tintner.
