Anton Bruckner

This seventh installment of the Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (2000- 2010) covers a period in the orchestra's history largely characterised by changing perspectives in a new century. Indeed, it was in 2004 that Riccardo Chailly relinquished his position as chief conductor after a 16-year-long tenure, whereupon the orchestra managed to forge what would be a long-term relationship with the renowned maestro Mariss Jansons. A specialist in Romantic, and particularly Italian, opera repertoire, Chailly was also an advocate of the modern classics and of contemporary music. His collaboration with the RCO resulted in internationally acclaimed recordings of works by such composers as Varese, Stravinsky and Berio.

The Latvian maestro Jansons, a passionate orchestral conductor particularly of the late Romantic repertoire, shifted the orchestra's focus more towards Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss and Shostakovich, invariably endeavouring to strike a careful balance between clarity of form and aesthetics. In addition, Jansons successfully continued the tradition of high-profile co-productions between the RCO and De Nederlandse Opera with performances of Shostakovich's 'Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District' and Tchaikovsky's 'Yevgeny Onegin'. The orchestra itself also underwent changes. A generation of orchestral players, including the illustrious principal wind instrumentalists who had laid the foundations for the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, retired and were succeeded by a group of outstanding young musicians, most of them hailing from outside the Netherlands, resulting in a growing internationalisation of the RCO. There were also changes in the orchestra's business and artistic management and its concert programming policy also saw a shift in direction. The 'Picasso/Rembrandt formula' was retired to make way for the new A Series, featuring more firmly embedded contemporary, often Dutch, repertoire. The launch of the orchestra's own in-house record label, RCO Live, breathed new life into its rich recording tradition. The identity of a modern, 21st-century orchestra would be further bolstered by the RCO's active online presence, its own Web channel, effective use of social media, and the successful digital platform RCO Universe, a novelty in the orchestral world. This CD box set constitutes the final volume of the Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, a musical journey through time in seven installments, each made up of fourteen CDs of live concert recordings. Drawing on the wealth of recordings in the Dutch public broadcasting network archives, the compilers set out to create a colourful historical overview and sound mosaic whilst doing justice to the unique history of the orchestra from 1935, the year from which its oldest surviving radio recording dates. Repertoire, performance, conductors, soloists and recording quality were the criteria which, in the proper interrelationships, proved to be decisive. Working to document such a vast musical legacy has been a privilege, the compilers having been aware that the making of choices brings with it the duty to showcase as many aspects of this rich history as possible.

The compilers wish to dedicate this series to all the musicians who have been part of the orchestra over the past 125 years. It is hoped that all seven volumes will be re-released as a 'superbox' to celebrate the RCO's anniversary.

Daniel Taylor is one of the world’s most sought after countertenors in the world and appears on over 100 recordings. Having made his debut at Glyndebourne, he followed it by participating in Jonathan Miller’s production of Handel’s Rodelinda.

In this latest release from Canadian label Analekta, Daniel performs a disc of ‘Ave Maria’s’ written by Caccini, Schubert, Byrd, von Bingen, Monteverdi and others, so provides a definitive disc of this repertoire performed by a world class singer.

A 9 CD set of the Gewandhaus Orchestra’s Bruckner Symphonies.

A conducting student of Mahler, F. Charles Adler conducts the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in works by Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 in D minor (WAB 103) [1890 version first published by Theodor Rättig]. Live recording, 8 April 1953 from the Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft, Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C-minor, “Resurrection,” with Anny Felbermayer, sop.; Sonja Dreksler, alto; Austrian Radio Choir. Original production by ORF [Austrian Radio], studio recording, 29 March 1956. Both recordings are previously unissued.

Hyperion is delighted to present Donald Runnicles, chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, in his debut on the label. Runnicles commands his orchestra in Bruckner’s most popular symphony—repertoire that is at the heart of his musical life, and in which he has few living equals. Recent concerts of the works of Bruckner and Wagner have received the highest critical praise, acknowledging the orchestra and their conductor as consummate performers of this music.

‘For an orchestra who hadn’t played Bruckner 7 since 1975, the BBCSSO sounded utterly on home territory. From the sumptuous opening cello theme to the finale’s noble fanfares, this was a spacious, tender and beautifully poised performance … it’s not often you hear cries of “encore” after a Bruckner symphony, but I would gladly have heard this one repeated in full’ (The Guardian)

Today, Anton Bruckner, the son of a village schoolmaster, is recognized as one of the most important (albeit late-blooming) symphonists of the nineteenth century. During his lifetime, however, he was the subject of incomprehension and ridicule – that is, when critics and musicians paid him and his music any attention at all. Even in modern times, his music sometimes has been dismissed as too long-winded or uninteresting. Possibly his most popular symphony today, the Fourth is entitled the ‘Romantic’; the composer had in mine ‘chivalric romance’. This is Kertész’s only recording of a Bruckner symphony and makes its first international appearance on Decca CD. It forms part of a survey, on Eloquence, of Kertész’s treasured Decca discography.

Otto Klemperer was born on 14th May 1885 in Breslau, Silesia (now Wroclaw, Poland) and died on 6th July 1973 in Zurich and hence next year we mark 40 years since his passing. Although disfigured by a stroke suffered whilst a brain tumour was being removed he became a world-renowned conductor whose recordings became and remain touchstones for the EMI catalogue.

Having completed the highly successful series of Beethoven recordings it was natural for EMI to seek further Romantic symphonies from Otto Klemperer. Although those by Anton Bruckner had been altered by good-meaning editors to make them more attractive to audiences of the time there were now editions which had attempted to revert to Bruckner’s original intentions and the advent of the LP with their much longer sides made recordings of these works much easier.

The first two to be recorded were Nos. 7 and 4 in November 1960 and September 1963 respectively. By the time of the next recording – of No. 6 in November 1964 – Walter Legge had left EMI and the orchestra had, with a great deal of support from Klemperer, established itself as a separate body and now called itself the New Philharmonia Orchestra. The recording of No. 5 followed in March 1967 with Nos. 9 and 8 following in February and October/November 1970.

Franz Welser-Möst's first Bruckner performance at the Salzburg Festival was justly celebrated in 1989. He conducted the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in the Seventh Symphony, in an interpretation by these young performers that was astonishing in its transcendence and in its manner of outlining the work’s musical contrasts. It was no surprise that the press greeted the conductor and the orchestra as a sensation and as a great hope for the future – it was also, after all, the first Festival “after” Karajan. Those hopes were later confirmed, and Welser-Möst and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra have since then returned to Salzburg on a regular basis.