Bruckner: Symphony no. 4, 1874 Version / Schaller, Philharmonie Festiva
Profil
CD
$9.99$19.99Save 50%Mar 04, 2022
The present recording is part of BRUCKNER2024 – a project which began in 2011 with the goal to record all symphonies of Anton Bruckner in all versions including the intermediate variants until the 200th birthday of the composer in 2024. Bruckner’s search for the ideal symphony is clearly expressed in the various manifestations of his Fourth, which he himself described as the “Romantic”. Having finished the score of his Third on New Year’s Eve 1873/74, he set to work on January 2 of the new year on his sketch of the first movement of the Fourth. Eleven months later, “at half past eight in the evening” on November 22, 1874, the new symphony was complete. But this act of completion was not his last word. Bruckner made changes, replacing his previous Scherzo in 1878 with the version dubbed his “hunting scherzo”. Apart from that, he composed a new last movement known as the “people’s festival”. The next revision, signed off in June 1880, introduced a further, completely new version of the finale. This then, together with the first three movements, comprised the version now usually performed. Hans Richter conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in the inaugural performance of the Fourth on February 20, 1881, followed later that year by Felix Mottl in Karlsruhe on December 10. It was once again Hans Richter who conducted the symphony in January 1888, this time in its final version.
On July 24th, Gerd Schaller conducted the Philharmonia Festiva in a performance of the Bruckner Symphony No. 9 in a "four movement version with Finale supplemented from original sources and completed by Gerd Schaller." The performance took place in the Ebrach Abbey in Ebrach, Germany as part of the Ebracher Musiksommer. As with Schaller's other Bruckner performances at Ebrach, the concert was recorded by Bavarian Radio Studio Franken and will be released on CD this December on the Profil label.
Gerd Schaller’s completion and performance gained long applause, the conductor repeatedly called back to take a further bow, and to my ears succeeded wonderfully in its aim of presenting a completed Ninth as a great musical event and a shattering, revelatory spiritual journey. Ken Ward on the original concert.
“If all his compositions were to be destroyed except for two, I would say: rescue the last two symphonies.” Such were Antonín Dvořák’s words about Schubert in 1894, and such is the attitude of many today. While Schubert’s six earlier symphonies were esteemed, his last two are known as works of immense beauty and complexity.
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in E-Flat Major "Romantic"
Profil
CD
$9.99$19.99Save 50%Jun 07, 2024
Bruckner requests a favourable reception for his Fourth Symphony, commending the work in these terms: "It is the most accessible and popular of my works and was a huge success when performed in Vienna. As a consequence of a recent letter from Munich, our Emperor has begun to take an interest in me."
Anton Bruckner's Second Symphony is certainly one of the most interesting symphonies in the cycle, even for musical amateurs, due to a number of special features. Inside Bruckner 2024: The complete symphonies in all essential versions.
