"Tintner Memorial Edition, Vol. 2"
Schubert:
Symphony No. 8
in B minor, "Unfinished"
Symphony No. 9 in C major, the
"Great"
Symphony Nova Scotia
Georg Tintner
(conductor)
Naxos
Georg Tintner had the misfortune to come of age professionally just as the
evil shadow of Fascism was sweeping across Europe. Forced to flee a promising
career in Vienna, the conductor went to the far side of the globe, earning a
devoted following in New Zealand and Australia while remaining relatively
unknown to concertgoers in Europe and the Americas. Later in his career, he
worked frequently in England, South Africa and Canada, enjoying an especially
successful relationship with that country's National Youth Orchestra and serving
as music director of Symphony Nova Scotia. (He also gained recognition for his
erudite lectures and pre-concert discussions.) But it was only in the late
1990s, when Naxos began to release his cycle of the Bruckner symphonies to
worldwide critical acclaim, that Tintner's reputation finally spread. Sadly, by
that point he was already suffering from a painful and fatal cancer; he
committed suicide in 1999.
This disc is one of 12 CDs containing Tintner performances mined from the archives of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and issued as a tribute to the late conductor. It reveals him to be a satisfying interpreter and technician with a keen sense of structure and firm roots in the Central European Romantic tradition.
Given Tintner's credentials as a Brucknerian, it is no surprise that he takes a broad approach to Schubert, one of Bruckner's Viennese forerunners. In a brief spoken introduction included on the disc, the conductor focuses on the tragedy of Schubert's early death — and the performance of the "Unfinished" that follows emphasizes the symphony's tragic elements. That's not to imply that Tintner wallows, however. In the first movement he conveys gravity without sapping the music's momentum; in the second movement, which some conductors take at a plodding pace despite Schubert's andante con moto marking, Tintner respects the composer's desire for motion.
The "Unfinished" is the more successful of the two performances. Although both symphonies were presumably played in the same hall, the Ninth, recorded almost two years before the Eighth, sounds drier. The strings in particular lack richness, especially in the lower ranges, and the two horns that announce the symphony's opening sound constricted. Still, Tintner's grasp of the symphony's sprawling form is apparent and he does a nice job of bringing out interesting details in the wind parts without skewing overall balances.
Symphony Nova Scotia is not a first-class band, but Tintner, who served as
its music director from 1987 until his death, clearly knew how to rehearse his
players and to achieve a tight ensemble. Although both works were recorded live,
the audience is (mostly) unobtrusive. This disc would not necessarily be a
collector's first choice for these symphonies, but it is a fitting testament to
the life and work of a fine musician.
