Te Deum by Bruckner in the ears of the Tribune

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Jérémie Rousseau, Yannick Millon, Celia Oneto Bensaid and Jérémie Cahen

Jérémie Rousseau’s report

We enter through a large door, in a tone more martial than majestic; but wouldn’t the building be a bit flashy? Chicago forces whipped by Daniel Barenboim impress if not shake.

Press, Philippe Herreweghe panics his troops: choirs and orchestra, not sparing in straight sounds, obey a completely Beethovenian vigor, at the risk of evacuating the hoped-for fervor.

Glowing brass, choppy strings: the choices of Bernard Haitinkat the head of the Concertgebouw, accentuate the hypnotic aspect of the anthem, which is celebrated by an intelligible and disciplined choir. Little ambiguous, the Make it safe reveals insufficient soloists.

The organ sets a solemn framework, blending into the Brucknerian orchestra in admirable gradients – what architecture! If the theatrical battle of Zubin Mehta is never overwhelming, we regret that the quartet of soloists (a grumpy bass, an authoritarian tenor) remains external to the text and that the cult of sound ends up winning out.

A united crowd rushes forward, with a power that has something physical: Christian hymn or pagan mass? Eugene Jochum makes the Brucknerian wave swell and deflate with calibrated precision, regulating tenuous dynamics. Ernst Haefliger, imploring, Peter Lagger, with angry accents, and Maria Stader, with a Mozartian light, contribute to the evidence of this great classic of the record.

A shudder runs through the studio. Impressive is the serenity that emanates from this reading. How small we feel in front of God bless you d’Herbert von Karajan ! The rolls of timpani erect the vaults of a cathedral, while the choir intones the ideal song of praise, relayed by soloists with ineffable nuances (Peter Schreier, an Evangelist for Bruckner, Anna Tomowa-Sintow on fiery high notes, José Van Dam with the velvet stamp).