Margaret Mikulska ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>Is there a set with Bohm?  The only time I was really attracted by a
>Bruckner symphony was when I heard Bohm conducting one of them live.
>(Actually, Norrington's 3rd isn't bad, either.)  My (oldish) DG catalog
>shows no Bruckner with Bohm.  Was there a cycle on LPs?

I'm familiar with the following Bohm Bruckner recordings.

3. Vienna Philharmonic on Decca. Very good, muscular, maybe a bit raw.
4. VPO/Decca. Maybe the best of all in stereo. Fabulous sound.
7&8 VPO, DGG. Mine are on a 3/LP set. I haven't heard these in a while. I
don't remember liking them as much as 3 & 4. I don't recall why. Maybe a
bit crude? DG's sound was nowhere nearly as good as Decca's, as I remember.

Of all of thase, absolutely get the Fourth.

>Isn't Jochum a bit stodgy?

I never thought so. IN both sets (DG and EMI), he takes a kind of mystical,
meandering (overstated) view that some are impatient with. Others may
seem more powerful in some of the symphonies, but I've always liked
Jochum for his special insights and the experience of sharing his world.
The only problem I've had with his Bruckner is that the sound on my
German EMI LPs is thick and heavy. (The DG LP sound from the earlier set
is better.) The Japanese EMI pressings are much better, so I suspect the
CDs are fine.  Again, it's been a bit of a while, but I seem to recall
he had most of his problems in both sets with the Eighth.

Roger Hecht