Hartmann - Symfonie nr. 4

In the last couple of weeks I have collected a number of different versions of Hartmann's Fourth Symphony and as a result I have gone through it maybe as often as 15 times. And still I do not have the feeling of having grasped this work. Although I haven't heard anything else by Hartmann up to this point, his music seems to share this elusive quality with Petrassi's Concertos, which are also very difficult to pin down. But there is no doubt that both are major discoveries for me that will keep me busy for a long while.

Judging from the different readings I have heard, it seems Hartmann's Fourth is not only difficult for listeners but also for conductors to get a hold on. One senses that quite intuitively. The overall shape of the work remains nebulous in all but the most successful readings. The caesura between the second and third movement (the latter having been composed to it after the war) eludes most of the interpreters I have heard. Despite these formal shortcomings it remains a very compelling work, uncompromising, deeply felt, written in an idiosyncratic language and full of remarkable inventions.

The recordings that I have listened to are: Bamberger SO/Ingo Metzmacher (EMI), Gürzenich Orchestra/Conlon (Capriccio), Bavarian Radio SO/Kubelik (live radio tape, Wergo, both CD and LP), and Münchener Kammerorchester/Poppen (ECM). There is also a DGG LP with Kubelik and the same orchestra but a different recording. I've only heard that cursorily. It's now being cleaned on the KM.

All of these recording have their merits. I don't think there is any that deserves to be binned. But clearly these are all different interpretations. Comparative timings reveal part of the story:

• Metzmacher: 14'54"/10'40"/7'22"
• Conlon: 16'27"/10'02"/7'59"
• Kubelik: 14'32"/9'40"/7'29"
• Poppen: 15'38/8'32"/7'45"

In an earlier post I remarked that I found the differences in tempo between movements in the Metzmacher reading less stark than the indications might lead us to expect (lento - allegro - adagio).  Poppen takes a very different view,  with a deliberately paced introductory movement and a very fast Allegro. I think both approaches can work, but one cannot escape the impression that Metzmacher's take at times seems a little sedate and longish and that Poppen's tempo is a little breathless. Also, I don't like how the latter seems to slightly and intentionally blur the contours of transitions in tempo and dynamics. In both interpretations it is difficult to adjust to the final slow movement and one feels there is a lack of continuity in the overall architecture. But both recordings have also plenty of nice things to offer. Once more the ECM shines because of an uncommonly vivid and translucent sound.

Conlon is consistent in the slowness of his reading. The first movement is delivered as a genuine threnody. The fast middle movement is a little ponderous. The finale does work better here, but at a cost of some excitement. The whole thing tends to get a slightly saccharine taste by the end. A very good point for the Conlon, however, is the surprisingly accomplished playing of the Gürzenich Orchestra and the excellent, very rich recording.

The most accomplished reading here is, it seems to me, the Kubelik. I feel he has cracked the code of this ambiguous work. In his hands it appears as a truly symphonic, tightly woven musical process. Ulrich Dibelius makes a case in a lengthy essay accompanying the Wergo LP set for the essentially symphonic character of Hartmann's oeuvre, and he singles out the Fourth as emblematic. I think this is somewhat of a stretch. The symphonic nature of this work is revealed only in the most capable and empathic hands. Kubelik must have worked hard on this symphony. In the first movement his timing coheres with Metzmacher's but his approach is much more plastic and imaginative, letting the slow sections breathe and baring his teeth in the fast music. The Allegro is truly brutal and bitter, but more poised than in the ECM recording. And he extrapolates this rather ascerbic take in the concluding Adagio in the most satisfying way. Kubelik eschews the comfortable and lush romanticism of the Conlon and Metzmacher readings. Instead we have a harsher and more expressionistic view which likely points ahead at Hartmann's famous Sixth Symphony. I must say that the playing of the Bavarian Radio SO does not show the polish of the orchestras on the more recent recordings. The sound quality is surprisingly good, given that we are dealing with live radio tapes of unknown date. However, a side by side comparison reveals that the vinyl does sound better than the CD, even with the 32 minute work confined to one LP side. The latter suffers from a rather closed sound with a glassy upper edge, not untypical for CD transfers.

Anyway it was great to take a deep dive into this work. Time to move on now.