Anton Bruckner - Symphony No. 7 (Herbert von Karajan)

Information

Composer: Anton Bruckner

1. Symphony No. 7 in E major: 1. Allegro moderato
2. Symphony No. 7 in E major: 2. Adagio. Sehr feierlich und sehr langsam
3. Symphony No. 7 in E major: 3. Scherzo. Sehr schnell
4. Symphony No. 7 in E major: 4. Finale. Bewegt, doch nicht schnell

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan, conductor

Date: 1989
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4390372

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Review

GRAMOPHONE CHOICE

Three years have elapsed since Decca reissued these two Bohm recordings in their mid-price Ovation series (3/93). Now you can have both recordings for the price of one. The 1973 Bruckner Fourth is a classic, widely praised and much reissued, but the 1970 recording of the Third Symphony (the tidied-up 1889 edition) is every bit as fine: another superb recording matched by more wonderful playing by the Vienna Philharmonic, sophisticated and folksy by turns.

The Vienna Philharmonic also feature on what was Karajan’s last recording, an equally idiomatic account of the Seventh Symphony, lighter and more classical in feel than either of Karajan’s two Berlin recordings yet loftier, too. When Abbado’s in many ways very fine Vienna Philharmonic recording was released a couple of years ago (DG, 5/94), I noted, “With Karajan we appear to have clambered to a higher track where the footing is as firm, yet where the views are even more breathtakingly complete”. As for the new Original-image bit-processing you need go no further than the first fluttered violin tremolando and the cellos’ rapt entry in the third bar to realize how ravishingly ‘present’ the performance is in this new reprocessing. Or go to the end of the symphony and hear how the great E major peroration is even more transparent than before, the octave drop of bass trombone and bass tuba 13 bars from home the kind of delightfully euphoric detail that in 1989 only the more assiduous score-reader would have been conscious of hearing.

-- Richard Osborne, Gramophone

More reviews;
https://www.amazon.com/Bruckner-Symphony-No-7-dur/dp/B000001GKC

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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. Despite being criticized for their large size and use of repetition, Bruckner's symphonies was greatly admired by subsequent composers, including his friend Gustav Mahler.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Bruckner

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Herbert von Karajan (5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years. Regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, he was a dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. He made a large number of recordings, mainly with his BPO and Vienna Philharmonic, and was the top-selling classical music recording artist of all time, having sold an estimated 200 million records. Karajan was admired and also criticized for his over polished sound of the orchestras he conducted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_von_Karajan

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