I may be in a minority, but I prefer Barenboim’s earlier DG Bruckner cycle to this later one. Granted, the Chicago strings may not have quite the sheen of their Berlin counterparts, but the brass playing blows away just about anyone else who has ever recorded these works, and more to the point, Barenboim’s interpretations have a youthful excitement and daring that hasn’t been replaced by any especially noteworthy interpretive insights this second time round. Take the Fourth Symphony: the Chicago recording was simply exciting as hell. There’s no pretense, no subtlety, granted, but what a wonderful tonic for anyone who believes the Bruckner needs to be slow and heavy! This new Fourth features some weak horns and trombones (the latter always a Berlin Phil sore point), more sedate tempos, and nothing otherwise new. The Berlin Seventh scores over its Chicago rival in the soaring string melodies of its first two movements, but yields to the Windy City in the last two, where greater vigor and rhythmic point pay rich dividends.
In general, I think Barenboim’s Bruckner is underrated. His consistent freshness and refusal to micro-manage or play the music ever more slowly offer a very different view of the composer than, say, Wand or (heaven knows!) Celibidache. The conductor that comes to mind most aptly for comparison, actually, is Jochum. Perhaps therein lies the problem, since if you want Jochum you’re spoiled for choice, with two complete cycles and numerous other single performances readily available. Still, for all my ambivalence about where exactly to place these renditions in the pantheon of Bruckner recordings, they’re often very good. They would be even more competitive if Barenboim weren’t up against so many other fine versions, least of all those by his own younger self.
