A series that took 10 years to complete -- Anthology of the RCO

In September, a blog entry was made introducing Volume 7, the last, of the Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra series.  Now it has arrived and joined its 6 predecessors in the series. Ten years have elapsed since the release of the first volume, issued by Q-Disc (the RCO Live label has not been founded before 2004), in 2002. All through these years, many wonderful live recordings in this series have given me so much pleasure that I was always on the lookout for the next release.

At first sight, it all looks nothing special: an old orchestra issuing some recordings from its archive. But when we realise that the music, conductors and soloists were carefully chosen to represent the legacy of a great orchestra and a tradition of sound which not everyone is fortunate or old enough to experience in person, we will come to appreciate the significance of these recordings and get to be thankful that this Anthology series does exist.

Here's a picture of the whole family:

Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Vol. 1-7

(I now realise that the picture of Volume 7 I posted in the previous blog entry is only an old draft from the product information sheet, and the issued product has a different cover art as shown above.)

The Mehta Bruckner 8 is split on 2 CDs with the first 3 movements on CD7 and the Finale on CD8. It was a recording of the concert on 2 December, 2005, and the 1955 Nowak edition was used. Here are the timings: 15'45", 15'18", 28'47", 22'53".

P.S. As there is much interest in knowing the music included in Vol. 7, here is a scan of the track listing printed on the bottom of the box. Please click the picture to enlarge.