Bruckner – Symphony No.9
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Mariss Jansons
RCO 16001
On his knees, the ailing Anton Bruckner beseeched God, “Let me be well, I need my health to finish the Ninth.” The devout composer even dedicated the symphony to “lieben Gott.” Apparently, God disdained the dedication: Bruckner died before completing the work.
Although Bruckner scored some of the fourth movement and various completions have been performed, the Ninth is almost always presented, as on this CD, unfinished, ending with the sublime Adagio. This movement, along with the Adagios of Bruckner’s Seventh and Eighth, and those of Beethoven’s and Mahler’s Ninths, ranks among the most profound and exalted slow movements in all music.
Yet many music-lovers scorn Bruckner for his disjointed lumbering, often conducted at lugubrious tempi. Devoted Brucknerites wallow in this expansive timelessness; this CD is not for them. Instead, it makes an ideal, painless way to introduce Bruckner-scorners to this transcendent music.
Recordings of the Symphony No.9 often last an hour or more; this performance, while under 55 minutes, is no superficial run-through. In the opening Misterioso, Jansons favours cohesive lyrical flow over mystery and granitic grandeur. Nonetheless, the movement ends in a sonically stunning climax, highlighted by the RCO’s magnificent brass.
The Scherzo, with its powerfully punctuated, rugged main theme, emerges unusually cheerful and buoyant, with tightly accented rhythms. In the closing Adagio, Jansons and his great orchestra produce glorious, heaven-storming, organ-like sonorities, bringing this Ninth to a memorable conclusion. Recommended to all Bruckner scorners.
