Search - Anton Bruckner, Sontraud Speidel, Evelinde Trenkner :: Bruckner: Symphony 3 (arr. Gustav Mahler for 2 pianos)

Bruckner's Third - Pianistic Sublimity

Hexameron | 07/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording deserves five stars and anything less is frankly unfair. The problem I see before me is persuading either the heaviest Bruckner zealot or the classical music neophyte that Bruckner's Third can and should be enjoyed as a work for two pianos. Sadly, there is a tendency to view piano transcriptions or arrangements for two pianos as lackluster "piano reductions," which only served a unique purpose in the pre-recording age as a means to hear the music. One might ask, "Why listen to this piano arrangement when we have Tintner or Karajan?" I can only state from my own listening experience that Bruckner's Third is a prodigious and powerful musical entity on two pianos. I didn't long for the trumpets or orchestral fanfares or the pianissimo strings or anything else; you might be surprised that on two pianos, this symphony has a life of its own and sounds like an epic Piano Sonata.



Additionally, it's important to appreciate what kind of piano duo we're dealing with. Trenkner and Speidel are an elite team that have recorded Reger's Bach transcriptions and various nineteenth century rarities. Having heard these myself, I can vouch for this piano duo's pianism: it is superior in every respect. Thus I'm not surprised to find their musicianship and interpretation of Bruckner's Third also exemplary. Most Bruckner fans know the tragic and complicated history behind Bruckner's Third, its multiple revisions and editions, the failure of its premiere, and Wagner's enthusiasm for this work which helped bestow its "Wagner Symphony" nickname. The piano arrangement's genesis stems from the bad reception it received and is a result of the collaboration between Gustav Mahler and Rudolf Krzyzanowski. Furthermore, and the liner-notes clarifies it best, "the piano arrangement of Bruckner's Symphony No. 3 attests not to the final version of 1888-89, the version familiar to us today, but to the second version of 1877."



Those familiar with the Third Symphony, who are perhaps even aware of its multiple editions which amounted to at least nine, already know what to expect as far as the caliber and substance of the music content. No matter how insuperable the orchestral version is, I can't help but be engrossed and enchanted with this piano arrangement. Although Schumann called Schubert's Ninth one of "heavenly length," I'll bet he could attribute such a quote to the first movement of Bruckner's Third, too. I wasn't fixated on the absence of the orchestra because two pianos are capable of translating Bruckner's ideas; the whole movement is mystical, voluptuous and arresting in its beauty. I found the second movement downright seductive and sublime, owing to Trenkner's and Speidel's coordinated dynamics and silky touch. The Scherzo movement is given an emphatic performance and the Finale is a pianistic tour-de-force. Those who have never heard Bruckner's Symphony before might listen to this piano arrangement and think it a monumental Piano Sonata for two pianos. And that is what this arrangement should be admired for: a rendering of Bruckner's symphonic work that sounds like a stellar piano composition.



Bottom line: In the execution of this Symphony, Trenkner and Speidel are technically adroit and emotionally involved all the way through. The arrangement itself effectively projects sonority, crystalline lines, and the many nuances of this great symphonic work. And seeing how this is the only recording of such a piano version of Bruckner's Third, I can only support it further. It is a spellbinding realization and certainly presents a new angle and fresh perspective to Bruckner's music."