Personally, I favor a variety of historical artwork. A portrait or photo puts the importance upon one person. In this case, I would prefer to see the composer, a choice of respect to the music. With a conductor or soloist in front, it all seems so vain and corporate. Oh well... bald is beautiful!
Anton Bruckner's first symphonic creation, Symphony no. 00 or Symphony in F minor, sometimes comes with the nickname 'Study Symphony'. The composer labeled it as such, thus he alerts the listener that this music is a mere exercise, not an individualistic creation bent upon furthering the genre.
One can hear the influences of Mendelssohn and Schumann, as well as their previous master Beethoven. The imposing wall of Bruckner-ian orchestral sound is not here, nor are the massive structures and scaffolding often associated with Bruckner's symphonies. Instead, I hear a 45-minute pastoral symphony which is rather lighthearted and energetic with plenty of bucolic wind solos and powerful brass chorales. If there is a place to catch the future composer in this music, it is probably in the third-movement Scherzo, a portion of the symphony Bruckner is famous for.
Gerd Schaller's view of Bruckner is of the slower, more imperious orchestral stance. Certainly he takes this student symphony seriously, urging the listener to believe in its music. And he succeeds for the most part too. Schaller takes all of the repeats, thus the timings exist on the long side compared to other performers who do not observe the repeats; a 10-minute difference in some recordings. Schaller's tempos sound plenty flowing to me though; I never once became impatient with this music, as can often be the case, and the dynamic contrasts and attacks are ably varied.
Quite frankly, the Philharmonie Festiva plays beautifully throughout. The string sound is gorgeous, the wind solos are lovely, and the brass are nicely cohesive and warm. I was initially concerned regarding the resonance of the Regentenbau recording location, but the acoustic ended up being a boon to this ensemble and its music making. This live performance yields zero audience noise.
At 43 minutes, only the symphony is present on this recording. Too bad the earlier Overture in G minor, March in D minor, or Three Orchestral Pieces weren't added to the feast of youthful compositional exploration. My guess is this performance was to finish off the last of Schaller's Bruckner symphony cycle before he continued on to record different editions of the symphonies he already released.
Most have little love for Bruckner's Symphony in F minor, but Gerd Schaller and his team make a strong case. If it is less Bruckner and more middle Romanticism, at least we can rest assured this is a beautiful recording.
Work
Symphony 00 in F minor 'Study', WAB 99
I. Allegro molto vivace (15.48)
II. Andante molto (12.15)
III. Scherzo (4.44)
IV. Finale (10.32)
Performers
Philharmonie Festiva
Gerd Schaller, conductor
Label: Hänssler / Profil
Year: 2016
Total Timing: 43.23
A beautifully Romantic symphony, but hardly one which captures the mature voice of Bruckner. There is more Schumann and Mendelssohn here.
Not to worry, though. The Philharmonie Festiva with Gerd Schaller make this student music more than worthwhile through gorgeous playing.
Find more Bruckner recordings HERE!
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