The severe Paul Hindemith was never thought of as a very dynamic conductor, even of his own music. So this re-release of a recording which was brought out earlier on the label Hänssler is all the more exciting, because this version, excellently-recorded in 1958 by Stuttgart Radio (and the same could go for more or less any concert recorded by a German studio in the late 1950s) presents a rather objective, supple and malleable version; swift, with a lightness of touch, but without a hint of mysticism – which isn't a handicap, given how well-constructed the performance is, with an almost pastoral feel.
The first movement proceeds with a pleasant plasticity: the Adagio with its efficient "Wagner-tuben", with neither cymbals nor triangle at the climax, is dreamy, almost sensual, a dimension that one wouldn't expect from Bruckner; the Scherzo is curiously slow, but with a great power, and the Finale quickly progresses to a conclusion which is grandiose but never grandiloquent.
It's all wrapped up in a little under an hour, with an orchestra, the Baden-Baden Sudwestfunk, which, aside from being one of Germany's greatest orchestras, was very often conducted by Carl Schuricht when it played this Brucknerian repertoire: and it is plain that he is speaking, or rather performing, in a language that he knows well. This bears thrilling witness to the vision that an important composer can develop with a distant fellow artist with whom he shares at least something in common. © François Hudry/Qobuz