This extensive release is the second installment of a ten-volume tribute to conductor Michael Gielen. Some of Michael Gielen’s very first broadcast recordings made in the 1960s were of Bruckner’s symphonies. The development of the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg is visible in these recordings, from the very earliest recording all the way to the incredible 2013 performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9. All of Bruckner’s symphonies are included on this release. Four of these performances have never been previously released.

REVIEWS:

The first two symphonies enjoy bracingly lucid, affectionate treatment. The Ninth brings a recent (2013) traversal of terrifying intensity, blazing majesty, and iron grip. Nos. 4, 6, and 7 are especially compelling in their unremitting sense of purpose, lyrical glow and affecting humanity.

-- Classical Ear

Mr. Gielen is a superb Brucknerian, and his structural expertise pays special dividends in symphonies others leave incoherent. This Third is a model of clarity.

-- New York Times (David Allen)