Don Satz wrote:

>Bruckner's 8th Symphony from Boulez on DG - I just might buy this one and
>see if Boulez can enhance my appreciation of Bruckner.  Do Harnoncourt and
>Boulez represent some new wave in Bruckner interpretation? Boulez's disc
>isn't expected to be released until sometime after June.

I am very pleased to discover that Boulez is actually recording the
Bruckner 8th, although I am somewhat equally surprised.  I presume (and
hope) that the orchestra will be the Vienna Philharmonic.  There is an
interesting story behind this one.  A couple of years ago Boulez only
reluctantly agreed to play Bruckner at the insistence of the Vienna
Philharmonic, who have a very long Bruckner tradition and who generally
revere this composer's music as well as regarding him as their very own.
So it is flattery indeed to have them actually plead for a conductor to
play Bruckner with them.  Apparently the choice of the 8th was Boulez's
own.  He said in an interview that he had been equally reluctant to
conduct Parsifal when asked to by Wieland Wagner, only to find it a deeply
rewarding experience, and so agreed to give Bruckner a try with an equally
open mind.  Whereas in Austria, the sort of reverence for Bruckner
expressed by Karajan, who loved Bruckner above all other symphonists, is
not uncommon, in non-German speaking countries he is sadly not as widely
appreciated.  Indeed it seems that Karajan had a horribly frustrating time
in London trying to convince the English of Bruckner's virtues - one of the
reasons why he was only too glad to leave for Berlin.  Similarly listening
to the Clevelanders playing Bruckner under Dohnayni, compared to the sense
of spontaneity and enjoyment of the music when they play Wagner, one senses
a feeling that they are just trying to earn their fee and little more.  So
in the US too, while there is a long and deep Wagner tradition a real
Bruckner tradition has yet to take root it seems.

The first time I really understood Bruckner was in Munich when I
found myself fortuitously at a public rehearsal with Sergiu Celibidache
conducting the university orchestra in the 4th.  It had just so happened
that an old lady at the pension I was staying at had come all the way to
Munich just for this occasion, and told me of the rehearsal, in addition
to stories of hearing Furtwaengler live as a student.  I had only barely
heard of Celibidache at the time, but it seemed his Bruckner in particular
had become legendary amongst those who knew of him.The students had begged
the reluctant maestro to play Bruckner with them, and while there were some
hilarious technical glitches, I will never forget the radiant smile on the
concertmaster's face for whom this was obviously a thrill and an utter
revelation.  It was a revelation to me too and I have been a committed
Brucknerian ever since.

Nonetheless it is utterly remarkable to think that Norrington's 3rd was
the first ever Bruckner recording with an English conductor with an English
orchestra.  According to Boulez, apparently Andre Cluytans did conduct
Bruckner although I am not aware of any recordings by him, but other than
that this would be appear to be the first time a French conductor has
performed Bruckner since then.  I would also not be surprised if this was
the first ever official recording of Bruckner by a French conductor in the
history of recorded music.  I hope this means that the genuine appreciation
of Bruckner is no longer going to be exclusively limited to German speaking
countries.

As for Harnoncourt, well he learnt his Bruckner playing as a cellist under
Karajan.  Not to mention that he too, as much as both Karajan and Bruckner,
is Austrian.

Satoshi Akima
Sydney, Australia
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