In the recent revised paperback edition of his classic study The Essence of Bruckner (Gollancz: 1992) Robert Simpson argues afresh the case of the Third Symphony and comes down heavily in favour of the work as Bruckner originally drafted it. (This is the 1873 version, admirably recorded for Teldec by Inbal and the Frankfurt RSO on (CD) 2292-42961-2, 1/86.) In an ideal world, Simpson now suggests, we might mix editions: 1873 plus 1878 in the Adagio from fig. K to the end, ''so sparing Bruckner the embarrassment of his earlier Meyerbeerish Wagnerism''. The case against the 1889 text—most conductors' preferred version—was strenuously argued by Simpson back in 1967 when The Essence of Bruckner first appeared. Now it is even more strongly made.
I have always found that the 1889 tidying and truncations can be made to seem to work if the text is played with conviction. Karajan's 1980 Berlin recording on DG is astonishing in this respect; the entire symphony played at white heat with an extraordinary high-strung intensity. Equally remarkable is Wand's earlier Cologne recording (currently part of a ten-CD cycle on RCA). Then as now, Wand conducts the 1889 revision with the air of a man who knows the symphony's entire embryology. It is an intelligent and guileful reading; and in 1981 it was also an electrifying one. The newer account is just as guileful but I didn't find it at all exciting. Fatally, it lacks the energy and blazing confidence of the earlier version.
All of which would seem to leave the Karajan very much in charge of the field where single CD versions of the 1889 text are concerned. (Szell on CBS is for me too cruelly exacting a Bruckner conductor, though MS gave an enthusiastic welcome to his 1966 reissued performance.)
But why pay full-price for a stunning account of a flawed text, when you can get much the same deal for rather less? Karl Bohm's 1970 Vienna Philharmonic version, which Decca have now reissued, is almost as vibrant as the Karajan. Some slightly dusty quiet string tone apart, the recording verges on the spectacular. As does the Vienna Philharmonic's playing. Wand's Hamburg players are completely outclassed; indeed, there are times when not even the Berliners are able to produce a response as mountainously grand as that of the VPO in full cry under Bohm. The Vienna players also have it game, set and match in the Austrian dance subjects of the Scherzo and finale. In its LP incarnation the Bohm was up against an excellent Jochum version on DG (12/67) that is currently unavailable separately; now, at mid-price on CD, Bohm is undisputed ruler of the roost.
As for Bohm's 1973 VPO account of the Fourth Symphony, that has been more or less hors concours for a generation. This is its second or third appearance on CD. Buy now if you missed it earlier.'