Bruckner;Symphony No.3 D Mi

And I stood upon the shoreline of the swamp and I saw a bald-headed Beast arise from the period-practice sludge, having far too many recordings to his name and upon his forehead was the name of blasphemy.

And the Beast which I saw was like unto a headless chicken, and his feet were as the feet of a three-legged dog, and his mouth as the mouth of an earthworm: and the Red Label Dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority until it realised he was a prankster and shipped him off to Hanssler.

And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death by the dismal reviews; and his deadly wound was healed and he re-recorded the Bruckner Third Bruckner: Symphony No. 3: and all the world wondered after the Beast and how anyone could continue to underwrite his dribble.

And they mocked the Red Label Dragon which gave power unto the Beast: and they taunted the Beast, saying, Who is like unto the Beast? Who is able to listen to his inane, Speedy Gonzales, vibrato-less ways in Bruckner?

And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things in a pipsqueak voice and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue until even Hanssler cast him forth into the darkness.

And the Beast opened his mouth in blasphemy against Bruckner and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with his prophets in the Bruckner Third - Inbal Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D minor (First Version, 1873) - Eliahu Inbal Karajan Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 - Herbert von Karajan / Berlin Philharmonic Celibidache CELIBIDACHE / Münchner Philharmoniker - Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 - and to overcome them: but it was a butt-whooping and the Beast howled in pain.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

If any man have an ear, let him hear. And avoid this disc like Red Spots on the Undercarriage.

It says either a lot or nothing that this is the only recording by Roger Norrington that I've kept in my colleciton. His performance of Bruckner's first ghouts on the Third Symphony from 1873 is faster than anyone else's--his rivals include Elihu Inbal on Teldec and Georg Tintner on Naxos, both of whom lead radically different-sounding readings. Norrington applies his patented "period" style, as he does to everything up to and including Mahler, but it's surprisingly effective in Bruckner. With no vibrato in the strings, hasty tempos, curt phrasing, and all the other well-known hallmarks of Norrington's approach, the Third Sym. sounds more primitive and awkward, which suits its half-gormed ideas and naive epic ambitions. Bruckner's material wasn't epic enough to go the distance, and he was wise to chop 10 min. off the work in its final revision 91888). Yet Norrington makes the original sound convincing, and it deserves to be heard. Recording and orchestral playing are up to the mark, too.

BTW the review below, strangley enough, isn't for this CD but a completely unrelated one.