The falsification of Celibidache's Bruckner concerts at your home -- an emerging partial cycle

For Celibidache, an audio or video recording of his concert is not his concert at all. The dimension of space is absent in the recording, according to his understanding of the phenomenology of music.

For lesser mortals like us, these recordings are the only things that can approximate his concerts, apart from the memories that exist in the brains of those who have attended his concerts in person. In fact memories are still not equivalent to the experience at the time of the concert when the music was playing. Hence in 2012, the only practical and existential way to get in touch with Celibidache's Bruckner concerts is by way of recordings, be they audio or video.

Thanks to the coming releases of DVDs of his Bruckner concerts, one can finally experience a falsification (I'm sure Celi would have insisted this word) of a partial cycle of Bruckner symphonies from No. 4 to No. 9 being played in one's home theatre or computer or whatever one feels like to use. Here is the playing list:

Symphony No. 4 -- a newcomer from Arthaus Musik (101645)

Munich Philharmonic 1983

The following is from the back cover:

The Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache (1912-96) was one of the most adamant personalities in the music world. He rehearsed three times as much as other conductors and avoided making recordings because he believed they were a false representation his musical intentions. This concert from the Herkulessaal in Munich captures one of the rare occasions on which he consented to a recording being made. He conducts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra with Anton Bruckner’s “Romantic” Symphony No. 4 in E flat major.

Also included is an interview with Sergiu Celibidache about conducting Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4.

Symphony No. 5 -- again from Arthaus (101639), Munich Philharmonic 1985 (Picture here)

Symphonies Nos. 6-8 -- from Sony, Munich Philharmonic (Picture here)

Symphony No. 7 (Berlin version) -- from EuroArts (2011408) (Picture here)

Symphony No. 9 -- from Opus Arte, Denon or TDK, Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI 1969

If you feel like, you can add Bruckner's Mass No. 3 in F minor from Arthaus (100251) to complete the 'cycle'.

This 'cycle' will be available by mid-July 2012.

The only regret is that there is still a Munich Philharmonic B9 DVD wanting. One can only hope.