Bruno Walter's Mahler was better known than his Bruckner, but this performance, recorded in 1959, redresses the balance. Even in the rather dry acoustic, it comes over as mainly mellow and lyrical, a view of Bruckner that has given way to a more strenuous, athletic approach with emphasis on the 'progressive' elements in this score in particular. Not that Walter in any way softens the contours of the music. The first movement's tragic ending is strongly and impressively encompassed, its impact all the greater coming after the broad and noble shaping of the second subject, for example. Walter tends to begin a ritenuto a few bars early—there are examples of this in the first and third movements—but his interpretation is by no means sentimentally over expressive.
The Scherzo is taken at a relentlessly steady tempo, lacking a degree of neurotic tension that some conductors induce here. The effect is threatening rather than hysterical and in accord with the generally dignified nature of Walter's reading, which is at its most eloquent in the Adagio. Here, in spite of moments of untidiness in ensemble, the Columbia Symphony Orchestra achieve a most satisfying depth and richness of tone, with a grand build-up to the big climaxes and a punctiliously clipped staccato by the trumpets beginning at fig. H. The transfer to CD seems to me to be successful and one can only congratulate CBS on their decision to make this great conductor's legacy so speedily available in the new format.
Among recent recordings we have Karajan (DG) for what a colleague calls ''light through stained-glass windows'' in Bruckner; Haitink (Philips) for a more muscular but no less intense approach. Solti brings an almost physical sense of excitement to the music, especially in its biggest climaxes, and the sinister element in the Trio of the second movement chills the blood in this performance. This is not a driving Solti, however; he leaves the music time to breathe, relishes the broadness of the second subjects and gives a most compelling account of the finale, its dissonant outbursts truly scarifying. On LP the Chicago orchestra's playing sounds more mellow than on CD, where the string-tone is just slightly abrasive. My first choice, both for recording and interpretation, remains Karajan, but this is a strong contender.'