The ubiquitous magic Wand

Following closely the release information of Wand's Bruckner concert in the NHK Japan archives comes another release of his conducting Bruckner 5th on 9 Sep 1990 leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra at BBC Proms, this time on DVD by ICA Classics, to be released in November. Added as a bonus is a short interview lasting 2'54".

Timings of the tracks for the symphony: 20'58", 15'27", 14'02", 24'58".

It can only be said that the magic Wand is truly ubiquitous.

Totally unexpected felicities from NHK archives

When one is about to believe that maybe all of Gunter Wand's "early" concert recordings have been unearthed and released, here comes the total surprise from King Records in Japan. In a series commemorating the 85th Anniversary of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, many previously unissued concert recordings will see the light of the day. Bruckner 8th (15/12/1983) and Schubert D944 "The Great" (9/11/1979) conducted by Wand are coming in October.

Another Bruckner double-CD which will be very interesting is Suitner conducting Bruckner 2nd (6/12/1971) and 4th (27/11/1980), again with the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

For fans of Michelangeli and Gulda, they will be more than happy to see these 2 pianists featured in another double-CD, with Michelangeli playing Ravel and Liszt piano concerti (3/4/1965 and 31/5/1965) conducted by Alexander Rumpf, and Gulda playing Beethoven piano concerti no. 1 (22/2/1967, under Sawallisch) and no. 4 (2/5/1969, under Matacic). Really mouth-watering.

The mastering was done by Altus, so I can be quite confident that the sound will be very good.

There are more to come. Top WOW factor.

Live Broadcast of Bruckner Symphony No. 9 (Simon Rattle and BPO)

Berliner Philharmoniker

Simon Rattle – Ian Bostridge

Benjamin Britten "Nocturne“, Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 9

Alongside two ACCENTUS Music productions with Claudio Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in August there is another late summer highlight at KKL Lucerne: Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker present works by Benjamin Britten and Anton Bruckner on 1 September 2011. Benjamin Britten gathered eight musical-poetic night pieces together under the title “Nocturne”: musical settings of English poets throughout the centuries performed by tenor Ian Bostridge. This cycle of orchestral songs is coupled with Bruckner’s “Swan Song,” his last symphony, which was unfinished and which he dedicated to “Dear God” - Symphony No. 9 in D minor.

A production of ACCENTUS Music in co-production with SRF/ARTE and in co-operation with LUCERNE FESTIVAL, directed by Michael Beyer and produced by Paul Smaczny.

The concert will be broadcasted on Sunday, 4 September 2011, at 6.10 p.m. on ARTE.

Simon Rattle and the BPO will also perform Bruckner Symphony No. 9 in Taipei in November.