The Bruckner Symphonies, Vol. 9

This series to mark the 200th birthday of Anton Bruckner in 2024 is dedicated to his symphonic works. Hansjorg Albrecht will perform all of Bruckner's symphonies in many new transcriptions for organ at important locations such as Zurich, Leipzig, Linz, Vienna and London. Bruckner's works are framed by contemporary compositions that deal with Bruckner's work in the "Bruckner Windows". Hansjorg Albrecht concludes the extensive project to commemorate Anton Bruckner with the last recording of the Study Symphony.

Bruckner: Symphony No. 8

Great music performed with burning intensity and supreme skill — and recorded with just the right amount of resonance to give these works their proper grandeur and sublimity.

What an inspiring disc this is—great music performed with burning intensity and supreme skill—and recorded (in the Great Hall of Birmingham University) with clarity and just the right amount of resonance to give Bruckner's vaulted phrases their proper grandeur and sublimity. The CBSO Chorus has the same kind of exalted standards as the orchestra with which it works.

The principal work is Bruckner's magnificent Mass in E minor with woodwind and brass accompaniment. It is performed with the utmost fervour—just listen to the sheer joy of "Et resin-rexit" in the Credo, the streneth and rhythmic splendour of the Gloria and the final ecstatic cadences of the Agnus Dei, I can find no better words to convey the majesty of this music than those of John Kehoe (who produced the recording) in his article in the accompanying booklet: "He is supremely successful in his purpose, to render palpable to the senses the ineffable mysteries of the liturgy, and to make understood what is incomprehensible".

As for the old idea that Bruckner was some kind of inspired simpleton, this is as decisively refuted by all the music on this disc as it is by his sophisticated and masterly command of symphonic form in his orchestral masterpieces. In addition to the Mass, the chorus sings four motets, including the jubilantly celebratory Ecce sacerdos magnus of as late as 1885, the CBSO trombones play the two Aequali of 1847 and there is a hitherto unrecorded Ave Maria of 1882 for mezzo and organ, most beautifully sung by Anne-Marie Owens, with Peter King. This simple setting makes an interesting comparison with the exquisite 1861 motet for seven-part unaccompanied choir. (Incidentally, the 1882 setting is track 9 and the 1861 track 10, not as listed in the accompanying booklet.) For all who value religious music of the highest order, this disc must be an indispensable addition to their collection.

The Corydon/Hyperion performance of the Mass is equally well recorded, and this choir, on another disc, offers some of the same motets. Choice is invidious, but the Birmingham performances are astonishingly vivid under Simon Halsey's direction.

-- Gramophone [1/1991]

BRUCKNER: SYM. NO. 4 STRAUSS:

The 6th Symphony of Anton Bruckner was recorded live for SACD in December 2013 at two concerts in the Hamburg Laeiszhalle. Here, too, critics were unanimous in their enthusiasm, as could be read in the Hamburger Abendblatt of 16 December 2013: “... This rendering of the 6th Symphony became, on the part of the Philharmonic, a festival of precision and punctuality. No wonder: Simone Young showed tempi of an organic effect, bonding with her musicians in a convincingly dosed mixture of fire and soul.”

REVIEW:

The great success of this issue lies in the conducting, since Young’s instinct for the all-important transitions in Bruckner is so sound and idiomatic—in fact she makes a few illustrious names sound a little self-indulgent by comparison. …one of the best among recent SACD versions of Bruckner’s 6th.

-- MusicWeb International

Simone Young’s recordings of the symphonies of Anton Bruckner on Oehms Classics are valued for her use of original versions, as well as for their exceptional super audio sound, so they have attracted considerable attention from collectors. Young employs Leopold Nowak’s 1952 publication, so there’s no textual controversy to confuse listeners. To the extent that Bruckner explores unexpected keys and creates ambiguous tonal regions through his chromatic harmonies, the Sixth is one of his most enigmatic and challenging symphonies, paving the way for the late masterpieces. Young and the Hamburg Philharmonic deliver an impassioned and visionary performance that compels the listener to explore the piece in one sitting, and the experience is highly rewarding.

-- AllMusic.com (Blair Sanderson)

[Young’s] conducting is so alive that it brings every bar into the present moment. The cause of women conductors has been advancing too slowly on disc, so it’s gratifying that Young has emerged as a first-rate Brucknerian by any standard.

-- Fanfare

REGER: Complete Works for Clarinet and Piano

BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 6 in A major, WAB 106 / BACH: Prelude

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 "Romantic"

Wand conducted his 1st RSO (now: DSO) concert on April 3, 1983 at age 71 and would regularly return to the fine orchestra and grew to esteem it more and more. He remained loyal to the orchestra when it became the DSO under the new principal conductor Ashkenazy. Up to 1996 Wand conducted 15 acclaimed concerts comprising the great music he so loved - works by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Schubert and Schumann. Most of the concerts were recorded in the Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Throughout his life, Anton Bruckner was initially highly regarded as an organist. Rudolf Innig demonstrates with a spectacular listening experiment how much the great symphonic composer was also influenced by "his" instrument: Innig transferred early orchestral works by Bruckner to the organ with loving attention to detail. The result: astounding. And equally good. Bruckner was 39 years old when he completed his two-year composition course with Otto Kitzler, ten years younger than him, with some orchestral pieces and a full symphony. The works already show Bruckner's preference for irregular periods, as he also used them in his organ improvisations, and his preference for sequencing rather than complex motivic processing, and the great dynamic developments. Thus the "Three Orchestral Pieces", which use motifs from Beethoven's piano sonatas, among other things, are given the typical Bruckner tone; with a grand gesture, Bruckner avoids the so obvious stylistic copy of the classical model. Extended organ points, also and especially in the G minor overture, do the rest, and in Innig's organ adaptation, the journeyman pieces acquire an astonishingly convincing plausibility. Rudolf Innig chose the Goll organ in the Marktkirche in Hanover for his Bruckner project. The sound of the large four-manual instrument is perfectly adapted to the needs of the 19th century.

It is with the legendary recording of Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7 by the Staatskapelle Dresden under its former principal conductor Herbert Blomstedt that we are now launching a cooperative venture guaranteed to create a sensation. Licensed by Nippon Columbia, MDG will release top-quality recordings from the extensive Denon catalogue. Following this outstanding Japanese label’s decision to focus exclusively on the Asian market, they were no longer available in other parts of the world. As already the first release demonstrates: more great things are yet to come! Bruckner’s Fourth and Seventh number among his most popular symphonies. Wagner is clearly audible as his model, and especially the Fourth, known as the “Romantic Symphony,” delves deeply into the emotional world of earlier days. The famous horn solo at the beginning recalls Wagner’s Lohengrin, though more in its stance than as a quotation. The extremely self-critical Bruckner bequeathed to posterity several versions and reworkings that Leopold Novak first in the 1950s brought into a coherent, playable form for the complete edition of Bruckner’s works. By contrast, things are very different with the Seventh. Already a gigantic success at its premiere, this symphony by exception did not experience any thorough revisions. Block-like, abrupt changes of tone and color recall the manual shifts of a huge organ – which is hardly surprising inasmuch as Bruckner was a highly talented organist. Arthur Nikisch, the conductor of the Leipzig premiere, raved, “Since Beethoven nothing even remotely similar has been written!” The Staatskapelle Dresden was made in musical heaven for Bruckner’s music. Richard Wagner called it his “wonder harp,” and Herbert von Karajan characterized the sound of this oldest orchestra in the world as the “brilliant glow of old gold.” All this and much more is found in Herbert Blomstedt’s interpretation of both symphonies from 1981. And we can look forward with suspense to the continuation!