Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Reissued now by Sony in a cardboard box without liner notes for the bargain price of $35.38 (at the time of this review), this set is a deal not to be passed up by anyone looking for either an introduction to Bruckner's work or seeking to finally grab one of the rightfully most revered Bruckner symphony cycles on record. It was this set that re-launched Günter Wand's career in the autumn of his life, and with good reason, as the sweep and the quality of these performances would have made an enviable calling card for any conductor. In the mid 70s, as the retired and -- outside of the region -- largely unknown longtime music director of the Cologne Opera and the Gürzenich Orchestra, Wand was invited to record Bruckner's 5th with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra. Musicians, audiences and critics alike were amazed by the quality of the performance and Wand was asked to complete the entire cycle. Invitations to great orchestras around the world followed. Wand would later re-record most of the Bruckner symphonies with the NDR Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Philharmonic. But it is this historic series of Cologne performances, recorded between 1974 and 1981, that is contained in this box set. Wand is an objectivist, averse to any changes in dynamics or tempos not explicitly indicated in the score. Accordingly, this is not hyper-dramatic, fire-and-brimstone Bruckner, nor is it an attempt to plumb some mystic depths. It is simply a straightforward and uncomplicated look at the written score, with every detail audible and placed in context within a larger vision. In so doing, Wand, however, maintains a spontaneity and freshness that other objectivists often lack. He is never as pedantic as Georg Tintner and never as emotionally non-committal as Riccardo Chailly could be in his less successful attempts. Instead, what we get in this cycle is a conductor who has seriously thought through the structure of each work, but gives us music that speaks naturally without being didactic. The Cologne orchestra rewards him with exceptional involvement that results in absolutely gripping performances. Of the set, Nos. 4, 5, 8 and 9 are especially successful and engrossing, and would be worth buying even as single releases. They bear witness to an unusually fruitful conductor-orchestra relationship. As such, I think that Wand's extremely consistent set makes a far more compelling starting point for the Bruckner-novice than either of the two extremely interpretively idiosyncratic sets by Eugen Jochum, or the equally objectivist, admittedly better played, but rarely as sweeping set by Bernard Haitink. No complete cycle is without some caveats, however. And the two issues here are the orchestra and Wand's choice of versions for the early symphonies. The Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra (a.k.a. the West German Radio Symphony Orchestra or WDR Sinfonieorchester) is a fine enough band, but the brass lack some control and refinement and you would never mistake its somewhat thin sounding string sections for one of the great orchestras of the world. The playing is by no means inadequate, though, and what they lack in polish they make up in sheer conviction and urgency. Unquestionably, some of Wand's later performances with the NDR Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic feature more accomplished playing. But this set has a spontaneity that is sometimes missing in his later performances (excepting maybe the 2001 live 9th with the NDR, which is unparalelled in intensity). The issue of choice of versions may perhaps weigh more seriously against Wand for some potential buyers. I would presume that nobody buys a complete Bruckner cycle for the sake of the first symphony, but those who care may find it irritating that Wand chose to perform the significantly inferior 1891 Vienna version of the 1st symphony. This is too bad, because the performance is so engrossing that you really want to believe in it until you run into one of those structurally incongruous passages that seem to throw the musical train off its tracks. Likewise, the 1889 Nowak version of the 3rd may not be everyone's cup of tea, though it is the standard for most complete Bruckner cycles currently available. As with all cycles traversing such a huge oeuvre as Bruckner's, you could of course assemble a finer set from separate releases of individual symphonies. (And in all likelihood you will at some point probably start exploring and collecting alternate interpretations anyway.) But you would spend a lot more time and money doing so, and Wand's Cologne cycle still provides an excellent starting point in the middle of the interpretive spectrum, an interpretive central focal point to recalibrate your senses after listening to the opposing extremes of Jochum and Celibidache. At this price point it is simply a no-brainer, a must-have for anyone who cares about Bruckner's music.