Claudio Abbado and Anton Bruckner -- A long and fruitful journey

It is well known to Brucknerites that Claudio Abbado has recorded several Bruckner symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic on DG. However it takes some time to realise that all these VPO symphonies have exact counterparts in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra (albeit only video recordings of B5 and B7 are now available) , now that Abbado's last concert has been issued. Is it fate?

His last concerts last year, programming Schubert Unfinished and Bruckner 9, left indelible memories to those fortunate enough to have attended them. Now this Bruckner 9, recorded by Accentus and issued on CD by Deutsche Grammophon, is commercially available. What an experience it is! Comparing his Lucerne Festival Orchestra Bruckner recordings with his previous Vienna Philharmonic ones is a good exercise in learning how Abbado has evolved in his understanding and interpretation of Bruckner.

This Bruckner 9 will surely join my favourites list of this symphony.

B1s

B4s

B5s

B7s

B9s

Gerd Schaller's Bruckner 5 CD is around the corner

Gerd Schaller's Bruckner 1-4 and 7-9 recordings have been issued by Profil to good acclaim.

His Bruckner 5 recording (PH14020) will be issued later this year.

As judged by his previous efforts, this B5 is something to be looked forward to.

 

An enlivening path to retread (15) -- Herbert Kegel and his intense Bruckner 8

This Bruckner 8 (Arioso CD ARI110) is special, in that it is characterised by visceral rawness, in the brass and even more so in the tympani which seems trying to break open the sky.

Intensity, tension, Eastern European timbre, intoxicating passion are all key features to this recording.

It is Bruckner on another dimension.

Hail to Kegel the Brucknerian.

The recording year (1970) as shown on the cover is doubtful; some have considered this studio recording to be contemporaneous to his live recording (on ODE) in 1975.