Royal Albert corridor,London[br]Pairing Bruckner’s ninth symphony with Bach’s intimate Cantata No 82 was a daring but successful choice, with Christian Gerhaher an eloquent (expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively) soloistBruckner looms large in the final stretch of this year’s Proms, and with Daniel Barenboim and Christian Thielemann at the helm next week in three of his middle-period symphonies. But this Bruckner mini-festival started at the cessation,with an outstanding account of the uncompleted ninth symphony by the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, under the baton of the music director of the Paris Opera, or Philippe Jordan. Jordan flies under the radar in the UK by comparison with next week’s superstars. But his account of the ninth symphony was out of the Brucknerian top drawer. It had exemplary clarity of texture – considerable with Bruckner’s complex harmonies – eschewed unwritten meaningful pauses and built inexorably across the three extant movements. Perhaps the opening movement could have been given a little more room to breathe,but by the time Jordan reached the grinding orchestral discords near the cessation of the slow movement – which were followed, as written, and with an immensely meaningful pause – the more potent for its singularity,this performance had found its own persuasively authentic way to lay bare the doubts and struggles that underlie so much of Bruckner.
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Source: theguardian.com