Anton Bruckner - Symphony No. 7 (Günter Wand)

Information

Composer: Anton Bruckner

1. Symphony No. 7 in E major (1885, ed. Haas): I. Allegro moderato
2. Symphony No. 7 in E major (1885, ed. Haas): II. Adagio. Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam
3. Symphony No. 7 in E major (1885, ed. Haas): III. Scherzo. Nicht schnell - Trio. Langsam
4. Symphony No. 7 in E major (1885, ed. Haas): IV. Finale. Bewegt, doch nicht schnell

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Günter Wand, conductor
Date: 1999
Label: RCA

----------------------------------------------------------------

Review

This Bruckner Seventh, Wand's third go at the piece, sounds absolutely magnificent in all respects--interpretation, playing, and sound. He sets flowing tempos and holds each movement together organically, effortlessly. There are so many wonderful moments: his perfect pacing of the big brass outburst of the inverted main theme in the first movement's development and the way this merges imperceptibly into the recapitulation; his rapturous vision of the same movement's coda; the way the great Adagio's principal theme surges forward, especially on its first reappearance after the lyrical second subject, like some great wave; and the same movement's climax, a moment of supreme fulfillment even without the controversial percussion parts. There are also those miracles of textural transparency and orchestral balance that Wand has made his personal trademark in Bruckner, most noticeable in the Scherzo, where all of those little woodwind echoes that permeate the movement peek through the most heavily scored passages like individual stars on a cloudy night. This newcomer clearly surpasses Wand's previous two recordings of this symphony (something that hasn't been unambiguously true of his Berlin Bruckner performances), and RCA was right to capture it. [1/2/2001]

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: *****
http://www.allmusic.com/album/bruckner-symphony-no-7-mw0001851446
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bruckner-Symphony-No-7-Anton/dp/B00004YMJ0
http://www.amazon.com/Symphony-7-Anton-Bruckner/dp/B00004YMJ0

----------------------------------------------------------------

Anton Bruckner (4 September 1824 – 11 October 1896)) was an Austrian composer. His symphonies are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic character, and considerable length. Bruckner composed eleven symphonies, scored for a fairly standard orchestra. His orchestration was modeled after the sound of his primary instrument, the pipe organ.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Bruckner

***

Günter Wand (January 7, 1912, Elberfeld, Germany – February 14, 2002, Ulmiz, Switzerland) was a German orchestra conductor and composer. He was largely self-taught as a conductor. Wand received twice the internationally significant Diapason d'Or for his Schubert and Bruckner recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter_Wand

----------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!