Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, WAB 109 (Original Version)

Chronique

Conductor François-Xavier Roth emerged from the historical performance movement (and is still active there), making recordings of late Romantic music, especially French. In his Bruckner Symphony No. 9 in D minor, WAB 109, there are no historical instruments in the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, but Roth's work still shows the impact of the historical performance movement in the sharp definition he brings to contrapuntal lines and above all in the speed of the performance. He performs only the first three movements of the symphony, not the unfinished fourth in one of its various completions, and his middle Scherzo is comparable in length to many others. This leaves the two outer movements, which may fairly be called lickety-split. Roth's performance comes in at about 53 minutes total versus an average of more than an hour. One is in quite a different realm here from monumental central European performances, and those new to the work should be aware that the performance is atypical. It is not, however, beyond the pale. Sample around in Roth's first movement, where the high speeds throw the focus more than usual onto the harmonic structure. The harmonic world shows that the composer was aware of the rapid expansion of the chromatic universe that was happening around him. The first movement, especially, is full of harmonic contrasts that remain unresolved or go a very long time before being resolved, and in Roth's performance, these come into sharp relief. The work seems more dissonant than usual, even though it really is not. The Gürzenich-Orchester Köln keeps up with Roth's demands, and the sound from the Philharmonie in Cologne, in the hands of Myrios Classics engineers working under producer Marco Borggreve, has impressive transparency that brings out Roth's best. Bruckner enthusiasts will find this an intriguing reading of the mighty torso of the Ninth. It made classical best-seller lists in the spring of 2024.

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