This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Altogether, these magisterial performances – Maazel conducts Bruckner with much lushness of sound and orchestral sweep – make for fascinating listening. -- The Scotsman

Paul Hindemith was an all-round musician. He had a near-professional command of most orchestral instruments, which naturally served as an excellent prerequisite for both composing and conducting. His prominence as a composer meant that the best and most famous orchestras were happy to have him as a conductor, which is why he regularly took to the podium with outstanding ensembles. In the studio, he always conducted his own works, recording them for labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, CBS and Decca. His work as a conductor in the concert hall and his occasional radio studio performances were much more varied, as with the present recording. When we hear Hindemith conducting Bruckner in 1958, we should bear in mind that a grand master is at work, unsurpassed in contrapuntal expertise and musical invention, the product of a vibrant tradition extending from Schütz and Bach to Mozart and Beethoven, and on to Brahms and Reger. Bruckner was a high point on this route from the Baroque to his own contemporary output.

Newly released as part of the Archipel Desert Island Collection, this luminous May, 1962 Vienna Philharmonic performance of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9/Te Deum coupling marked the first of more than a dozen Herbert von Karajan’s performances of this symphony to be captured for posterity between 1962-1986 with either the Vienna or the Berlin Philharmonic. + The impressive soloist quartet roster for the Te Deum included soprano Wilma Lipp and tenor Nicolai Gedda.

Otto Klemperer is, to this day, still considered one of the great Bruckner conductors. His EMI studio recordings made in the 1960's remain benchmark reference recordings. This 3CD collection of live Bruckner recordings from the 1950's and 1960's, a welcome addition to his famed studio recordings, finds Klemperer leading three of the finest European orchestras. Newly remastered.

This is the longest recording by far of the first version of Bruckner’s Third Symphony. There are longish breaks between movements in this live performance and they somewhat exaggerate its duration and its real extent is more like just under 87 minutes, allowing for decent pauses. Nevertheless, it is still the most leisurely by far - except “leisurely” is hardly the word to describe so spacious, unhurried and grand an interpretation. The next slowest is Georg Tintner’s recording of 78 minutes, which cannot boast as fine an orchestra or indeed so gripping an interpretation. For purposes of comparison, I re-listened to recordings by Inbal and Blomstedt, who take just under seventy minutes. There's also the more eccentric reconstruction by Peter Jan Marthé, recorded live in the same venue in 2005 using an edition combining elements from all three published scores and substituting the 1876 Adagio. That interpretation by Marthé is in many ways closest to the recording under review here. I am one of those who, I fear, cannot countenance Sir Roger Norrington’s unseemly brisk 57 minutes.

According to the excellent notes by Executive Producer Professor Klaus Laczika, the justification for the tempi here is based upon an extrapolation from Bruckner’s comments in letters to Hans Richter concerning the Eighth Symphony. There he laments that conductors invariably played it too fast. Certainly the steady pulse and carefully scaled crescendo which mark the first five and a half minutes signal that we are about to hear an interpretation of real status and profundity.

Nowadays there is an increasing acceptance of the merits and legitimacy of the 1873 score. We may also now hear the Carragan edition of the symphony as it had developed in 1874, in the live recording by Gerd Schaller, derived from the copy Bruckner kept and progressively tinkered with. Certainly the power and serenity of this new recording, made in the Stiftsbasilika at St. Florian, provide the best possible advocacy of the virtues of Bruckner’s earliest thoughts. It is arguable that, despite its poor reception, the Third Symphony had significance to Bruckner’s personal development as a composer and to the symphonic music of his era similar to that of the Eroica to Beethoven in his. It represents a decisive break with what had come before. It establishes recognisable Brucknerian tropes, such as the reappearance of a central thema, the cyclical structure, the repetitions suggestive of litany, the granitic blocks of sound imitating the sonorities of the organ and the progress towards apotheosis; all those elements present here are to become fixtures in his subsequent œuvre. Only the Finale remains slightly unsatisfactory and disjointed; otherwise we are hearing what is recognisably the mature Bruckner.

For some listeners, the very broad and reverberant acoustic of the basilica might be problematic, but it serves to accommodate and underline the grandeur of this performance and rarely results in any “harmonic mush”. Only in passages such as the descending semiquavers at the start of the Finale and the demisemiquavers in the second theme of the first movement is there some blurring of the articulation. Otherwise, the hypnotic intensity and solemn sententiousness of the music is grandly served by the reverberation. The effect was perhaps even more impressive live than it is now on disc. Blomstedt’s live recording has a better orchestra and sounds marginally clearer than the Inbal but Ballot’s orchestra is equal to the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and he finds more transcendence in the music than either Blomstedt or Inbal, an effect enhanced by the sonority of the venue.

Ballot adopts a far steadier, more ominous pulse at the start of the first movement than competitive recordings and maintains a tempo which is truly “misterioso”. The horn blip at 2:36 is mildly unfortunate but that is virtually the only noticeable blot in what is after all a live performance of a notoriously difficult score. As compensation, there are many superb instances of masterly music-making, such as when twenty minutes into the first movement we hear a chord sequence descending a full octave by stages before the reprise of the first subject. Then Ballot, like Marthé, succeeds in making the climax of the movement an overwhelming event.

The Adagio is sublime; perhaps Inbal’s and Blomstedt’s more urgent pacing catches its lyrical quality and a restless forward momentum. By contrast, Ballot simply caresses one of the most beautiful tunes Bruckner ever wrote, giving the celestial melody space to breathe and using the silent pauses to great effect, hence its inordinately protracted duration: 23 minutes compared with the 17 and 19 minutes of Blomstedt and Inbal respectively. Again, the brass chorale is immensely grand and imposing, its tricky cross-rhythms expertly managed.

The impact made by the Scherzo is slightly compromised by the generous acoustic; Ballot presents it as great, rolling juggernaut, stressing its geniality and its rhythmic and thematic kinship with the Scherzo of the Ninth. It is not the least charming or perky and there is a tendency for the sound to wallow. Here is no crisp, graceful terpsichorean tripping; we are given instead a muscular romp.

The Finale is by turns exuberant and ethereal. Its serene, arpeggiated melody, underpinned by pizzicato lower strings seems to spiral heavenwards towards the dome of the basilica. Ballot is unafraid to risk over-emphasis of its naïve pathos by applying some daring rallentandos. Perhaps for some the sudden changes in direction and structural weakness of this movement result in its outstaying its welcome. On the other hand, the aureate blazing of the combined trumpets and trombones contribute to a climactic last five minutes of which Berlioz would have been proud. Inbal and Blomstedt make this movement dance but they do not generate the massive terror and dignity of the Last Trump which Ballot engineers here.

I am increasingly of the view that Bruckner’s music can withstand a variety of interpretative stances. As previous conductors have demonstrated, this is not the only way to deliver this symphony but it constitutes an entirely satisfactory and convincing vision of a majestic work.

There is however, one irksome sonic problem: a faint but perceptible whistle on G which persists throughout the whole recording - some interference apparently originating in the lighting in the basilica - and will prove irritating to listeners using headphones or equipment which emphasises the treble – or simply those of especially acute hearing.

-- Ralph Moore, MusicWeb International

I could, if I wanted to, but I don't... This was the alleged response of Anton Bruckner to singer Rosa Papiers question, why he wouldn't compose songs like Johannes Brahms did. Eight songs by Anton Bruckner are academically proven, which - with one exception - were composed during his time and life in St. Florian and Linz. With his latest recording, the distinguished Austrian Bass Robert Holzer devotes himself, along with Thomas Kerbl, piano and conducting, the choir Chorvereinigung Bruckner and the chamber orchestra of the Anton Bruckner private conservatory Linz, to the unjustly neglected songs and the Magnificat by Bruckner. A sensation came about in the year 2015 with the discovery of the song Der Mondabend, with it's world premiere recording being released on this album.

The Places
• The journey is concerned largely with places of importance in the life of Anton Bruckner, his birth-place, the monastery of St Florian where he was trained and worked, and Vienna, where he spent his final years.

The Music
• A man of modest origins, the composer Anton Bruckner continued and developed the symphonic tradition of Vienna in a series of imposing works that also drew inspiration from Wagner.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 68 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

This is one volume in a multi-volume set. Find the complete box set here.

On the occasion of the Bruckner bicentenary, the Wiener Philharmoniker recorded its first ever complete Bruckner cycle under the baton of Christian Thielemann. In addition to the well-known canon of nine symphonies, the two earliest Bruckner symphonies in F minor and D minor, which are a world premiere on DVD and Blu-ray, were also recorded for the first time in the orchestra's history. This uniquely complete edition from the Musikverein and Salzburg Festival, featuring 11 symphonies, also includes extensive conversations with Christian Thielemann about each symphony and insights into his rehearsal work.

“Two symphonies that document Bruckner's path to mastery quite excellently. (…) Conclusion: The next interesting Bruckner milestone in the cycle.” (Kurier) / “Masterly, kapellmeisterlike, dreamlike.” (Der Standard) / Beautiful to weep for and artistically accomplished. [...] The interpretation of the Fifth may be considered a milestone. The way the musicians realized this work was simply grand." (Kurier)

This series marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Anton Bruckner, which falls in 2024. It's dedicated to Bruckner’s symphonies, most of them recorded in new transcriptions for organ by Hansjörg Albrecht. The 5th. recording was made on the impressive organ of Konzerthaus Vienna with with the transcription of Bruckner's 4th Symphony by Thomas Schmogner. A bonus track on each volume will be a brand new composition for organ that references Bruckner the composer. Two or three volumes will be released each year, with the project reaching its conclusion in 2024.

Sony Classical releases the third installment of Christian Thielemann’s complete cycle of Anton Bruckner’s symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic – the orchestra’s first Bruckner cycle under a single conductor. “The claim that this orchestra is essentially the only genuine original sound ensemble for the music of Anton Bruckner should remain beyond dispute” raves Die Presse. The Vienna Philharmonic premiered four of Anton Bruckner’s nine symphonies, including No. 4 in 1881 and has enjoyed a unique relationship with the Austrian composer’s music since 1873. The Fourth was the first of Bruckner’s symphonies that Thielemann conducted. Half a century later Thielemann has come as close as possible to the ideal Bruckner sound with the Vienna Philharmonic: full-toned, warm, with registrations that are full of countless colours, clear without sounding harsh and well-contoured without seeming angular. Thielemann’s interpretations of Bruckner’s music are rooted on deep expertise and sympathy. Few conductors can match the solemnity and patience he finds in composer’s symphonies, or his ability to draw on the unparalleled beauty of the orchestra’s sound and the special acoustic of its home in Vienna, the Musikverein. Christian Thielemann, Principal Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden, Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival since 2013 and Music Director of the Bayreuth Festival, is his generation’s most esteemed interpreter of the Romantic Austro-German repertoire. In the midst of a mutually stimulating relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic, he conducted his first New Year’s Concert with the orchestra in 2019. The Vienna Philharmonic will issue the final release of the live cycle in 2024, marking 200 years since the Bruckner’s birth.

Anton Bruckner's Fourth Symphony, the so-called "Romantic", is characterized by a long history of development, stretching from the first drafts in 1874 to the third version in 1888. However, this version, which was common until the 1950s, was rejected in the "version dispute", and instead the second version from 1878/80 became the prevailing version during the second half of the 20th century. The third version was only rediscovered in 1996 by the Bruckner researcher Benjamin Korstvedt and re-edited in 2004. This version, regarded by Bruckner as the final version, which contains a few cuts and mainly tempo adjustments in favor of a slower playing style, was presented by conductor Rémy Ballot and the Altomonte Orchestra at the St. Florian Brucknertage Festival 2021.

This series marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Anton Bruckner, which falls in 2024. It is dedicated to Bruckner’s symphonies, all recorded in new transcriptions for organ by Hansjörg Albrecht. The second recording was made on the impressive organ of the Brucknerhaus Linz, Austria. A bonus track on each volume will be a brand-new composition for organ that references Bruckner the composer. Two or three volumes will be released each year, with the project reaching its conclusion in 2024. So, stay tuned. “Memorable performances, high-tech sonics and informative annotations complete this superb and innovative first installment that sets my imagination alight.” (Classical Music Daily on the previous volume in the series)

Immense and tragic, unerringly and compellingly directed in immediate sound.

Since one of the most familiar features of Furtwängler's discography is the pitiful lack of a commercially recorded Bruckner symphony cycle we all know what we're getting here. But given the competing performances that exist some separating of versions might be in order. I will note at the outset that this M & A set goes into the question of the editions used very briefly, with very different conclusions to those reached hitherto, especially by John Ardoin. This mainly concerns the apparent use by the conductor of Gutmann’s editions in Nos. 4 and 7 and the 1932 Orel in No.8. It includes Ardoin’s extensive and informed commentary on the performances. One further point – the transfers have been effected by Aaron Z Snyder; more on that at the end.

The Fourth is the Stuttgart performance given by the Vienna Philharmonic in October 1951. As a performance it is possibly superior to the in any case less well-recorded one in Munich, which was given a week later. The Munich performance is not quite as responsive or as well played even though the immensity of the transitions will compel interest either pro or contra. The audience is rather restive especially, of course, in the slow movement in Munich. But in Stuttgart the audience was quieter and the orchestral sound stage was more immediate; the performance therefore blazes with an extra intensity. Ardoin noted that Furtwängler habitually used the Schalk-Löwe edition but as noted above M & A identify it as the 1888 Gutmann.

The Fifth is one of four wartime broadcasts in this set. It was given in Berlin in October 1942. Others find the actual sound splendid but I find it rather occluded for its time. The heft of it however still registers powerfully. And the performance is better performed and one should probably concede better conducted than the post-war Vienna Philharmonic performance from Salzburg. In Berlin things are tougher hewn and powerfully impressive; the audience coughs and horn fluffs are here insignificant. This performance has been out on Music and Arts before - CD538 - and on the DG set 427 7742/427 7732. You may possibly have come across it on Bella Musica BMF 967.

Unfortunately the first movement of the Sixth has not survived. In any case this wasn't a work which the conductor found especially congenial. He first performed it shortly before this broadcast - November 1943 - and then never returned to it. This is the only survivor and the more to be valued for that reason but obviously recommendation is limited by reason of its being a torso. It's been out on Tahra.

The Seventh is not the one from Rome in 1951 with the touring Berlin orchestra, which I have always preferred, but the (to me) strangely uncommitted Cairo performance of the same year. Neither however is preferable to the best version, the 1949 Berlin - a towering achievement, memorably expressive. Still, the Seventh, here held to be the 1884-85 Gutmann was the only one of the symphonies of which Furtwängler left behind a commercially recorded trace – the Adagio was recorded – and his way with it, even in Cairo is to be savoured.

No.8 is with the Vienna Philharmonic, recorded there in October 1944, ten days after the final recording in this set, that of the Ninth Symphony. The Eighth was on Toshiba CE28 5757-8, also on DG (Japan) POCC2346 and probably most usually for the majority Music and Arts CD764 and Tahra FURT 1084-1087. This one has a blazing authority and commitment; the adagio is immense and tragic, unerringly and compellingly directed. The sound is immediate. He uses the modified Haas edition here whereas later in Vienna he used the Schalk; M & A going further to identify the Haas modifications as being the use of the 1892 Lenau edition “for guidance”.

The Ninth was on DG (Japan) POCC 2347 and DG 445 418-2GX2 and Music and Arts CD 730. It's slightly less well recorded than the Eighth but it is the only surviving example of his way with this symphony. We know from his own testimony that a performance in St Florian three days later than this preserved one was of great significance to him. But this one could scarcely have been less fine, so intense and searing is the resultant performance. This is probably the most consistently impressive and utterly necessary of all Furtwängler Bruckner recordings. Furthermore the edition used is noted as being the 1932 Orel.

So finally that word about Aaron Z Snyder’s digital remastering. He uses what’s called the “revolutionary new harmonic balancing” technique but beyond that M & A aren’t saying what this actually means. I’m assuming however that it’s analogous to something like Andrew Rose’s XR technique. I’m going to reserve critical judgement until the full mechanics are made known but what I can say, prima facie, is the amazing sense of immediacy generated by the transfer process, whether by rebalancing, or whatever. I played these transfers against some of the ones mentioned above, also against Andromeda’s, and the results were pretty startling in brilliance, definition and bass response.

-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

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Furtwängler’s connection with Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony went back to the dawn of his career: in fact, it was the featured work on the program with which he made his symphonic conducting debut in 1907, at the age of 20. But only one of Furtwängler’s performances of the Ninth was ever recorded, and this is it – a soulful reading with the Berlin Philharmonic from a concert given on October 7, 1944, in the dark final year of World War II. Furtwängler was always, in his interpretations of Bruckner at least, closer to the Apocalypse than the Elysian Fields, and that is certainly the case here. There is an urgency to the account that is palpable through all three of the symphony’s movements, and particularly apparent in the scherzo, which comes across with a ferocity that is not wildness, but something far more chilling. The intensity of vision in Furtwängler’s conception of the first movement is equally remarkable, as is the groping, almost glacial way he conducts the Adagio, probing the limits of sustainable sound. Apart from some ragged ensemble in the brass and occasional fits of poor intonation in the winds, the playing is on a very high level, and the sound, while veiled, conveys both the tonal beauty of the Philharmonic’s realization and the charged atmosphere generated by the performance. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection.

The Columbia Symphony may not have been a first-class orchestra, but Bruno Walter trained to do the right things, and it responded with first-class accounts of the Brahms symphonies. While there are instances of less-than-crack ensemble, there is also some very fine first-desk playing, and the performances as a whole are marked by a natural feeling of movement, phrasing, and expression. Walter’s approach to the music is kindly, caring, wonderfully whole – sunny but not overly brilliant, warm but not overly heated, sincere but not overly impassioned. Anyone who thinks that means the conductor was slow, shapeless, or indulgent should listen. There is thrust here, and plenty of momentum. The recordings are closely miked and somewhat bass-heavy, but in Sony’s 20-bit remastering the sound is wonderfully alive and direct. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection