MUSIC REVIEW : KURT SANDERLING LEADS BRUCKNER’S SEVENTH

Kurt Sanderling has made a lengthy visit with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and by all accounts, it has been a remarkable one. The German conductor’s musical horizon does not seem to extend much beyond 19th-Century German music, but within that perspective, his view is magisterial.

Sanderling’s stay ends tonight, with the third consecutive performance in the Music Center Pavilion of a Schubert/Bruckner program. The pairing is a natural one, and a sense of natural inevitability was one of the primary characteristics of Sanderling’s interpretations Thursday.

There was also a pronounced feeling of nostalgia about the event. The 74-year-old Sanderling is a paternal authoritarian figure of the old school--calm, stern, and sure in any situation. And in his interpretation of his repertory, there is no equivocation about sentiment.

Neither, however, is there any wallowing in it. Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony certainly provides opportunities for emotional indulgence, but in this case the conductor indulged the music instead of himself. Though not fettered by a score, Sanderling kept his own presence sedate, while remaining completely in control.

There was no distortion or exaggeration of the Brucknerian rhetoric, so the composer’s own sincerity, and even simplicity, came through clearly.

In pacing and broad outline, Sanderling’s account resembled the performance recorded by Kurt Masur. But Sanderling proved much more precise in rhythmic detail, more inclined to bring out interior voices, and more restrained in rubato. He also galvanized the Finale to an uncommon degree.

The Seventh is not one of Bruckner’s more problematic scores. Sanderling used the Nowak edition, of which the most exceptional feature is the inclusion of a cymbal crash at the climax of the Adagio. As Sanderling emphasized the affirmative aspects of the movement, leading the dirge to triumphant apotheosis, the bright explosion sounded quite natural in context.

The Philharmonic honored Sanderling’s direction with rapt, expressive playing. It was precise without sounding finicky, powerful but not bombastic. Sectional and individual solos were elegantly balanced, and a broad dynamic scale was served without mush or overplaying.

The first half of the program was given to Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony, previously reviewed.