This coupling of the Third and Eighth Symphonies, initially available in the U.S.A. for about five seconds, marked the high point of a very distinguished Bruckner series (which remains incomplete, lacking the First and Second). Dohnányi’s conducting has something in common with Karajan’s, only his Bruckner offers even better playing and recording. He employs steady rhythms, clear textures, and steeply terraced dynamics in order to emphasize the music’s gothic architectural qualities. For example, you can really hear as triplets the slow rhythm in the lower strings that opens the Eighth’s sublime Adagio, and this immediately establishes a rhythmic counterpoint to the principal theme in the violins. Dohnányi’s timing for this movement, 29-plus minutes, indicates that this is no glib rush to the finish line. Similarly, the clarity of the huge pile-up of tunes at the symphony’s end is remarkable, and all the more powerful for being so carefully layered. The Cleveland Orchestra sounds magnificent throughout: the brass, in particular, play with a warm, glowing tone that never turns harsh. The various orchestral sections are always in perfect balance, a critical factor in such places as the finale of the Third, with its polka rhythm in the strings superimposed over a chorale in the brass. There are other ways to play this music, and some may find Dohnányi’s approach too cool, but of its type this is as good as it gets.
