29th September 2024, Karl Georg Berg, Die Rheinpfalz
“The German State Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate under chief conductor Michael Francis played Anton Bruckner’s fourth symphony three times in a phenomenal way, just over three weeks after his 200th birthday…
The first evening was at the Euroclassic Festival in the Festhalle in Zweibrücken, the second at the sold-out first subscription concert of the still young season in the Ludwigshafen Pfalzbau and the third, only with Bruckner, in the fully occupied cathedral at this year’s International Music Days in Speyer Cathedral, dedicated to Bruckner…
For his Bruckner homage, Michael Francis chose the most well-known of the nine (or eleven, including unnumbered works) symphonies, the Fourth in E flat major, the “Romantic” in the version from 1878/80. The work began as if from nowhere (and in principle still without any conducting gestures), in which the conductor then conjured up the primal forces of music with great intensity, but also with great clarity and overview. It is hard to imagine a more exciting interpretation of the symphony, one that brilliantly traces the dynamic waves and succinctly captures and expresses the forms and themes in every bar.
Michael Francis made the symphonic greatness and sublimity of this music clear with a State Philharmonic playing absolutely brilliantly in all registers – solo horn player Andreas Becker and solo flutist Diren Duran are mentioned separately – but he did so completely without pathos and free of any ideology or pseudo-sacred aura. Also free of any kind of program. Even in the Scherzo, played here with great energy, nothing reminds us of the hunting theme that is often associated with it…
Of course, Bruckner did not write his symphonies for a performance in a church – and the acoustic conditions in Speyer Cathedral are known to be particularly special. But it is just as natural that, in an ideal sense, such a space reflects the dimensions of a Bruckner symphony in many ways. And so the Speyer concert was a unique experience.”
