Bruckner: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor

“Perhaps the greatest of all recordings of the work, spacious, involved, profoundly human. So persuasive is Giulini's interpretation, it makes it almost impossible to take seriously the attempt at a more detached, monumental approach found in Daniel Barenboim's relatively recent Teldec performance. Giulini's ability to convey fervour without sentimentality is little short of miraculous, and it's clear from the way the early stages of the first movement effortlessly project an ideal balance between the lyrical and the dramatic that this reading will be exceptional. The recording might not have the dynamic range of current digital issues, and resonance can sound rather artificial in louder passages. There's also an obtrusive extension of the trumpet triplets seven bars before the end of the first movement.
But such things count for less than nothing in the face of a performance which culminates in a finale of such glowing spontaneity you could almost believe that the orchestra are playing it for the first time, and that neither they (nor any other orchestra) will ever play it better.
A fuller and more authentic text of the symphony is available at super-bargain price in Georg Tintner's fine account of the 1872 edition (on Naxos; reviewed above). Serious collectors will need both. Yet the last thing you're likely to feel after hearing Giulini is that there's something inauthentic about this Bruckner.
Matters musicological fade to vanishing point, given such communicative genius.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Blomstedt directs a wise and monumental Bruckner 2, finding a serene profundity in the slow movement. The Gewandhaus Orchestra's playing is beyond praise.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2013 ****

“a regular box of surprises, some of them quite startling...The principal virtue of the performance is in its agility, leanness and considerable subtlety of expression, the way it challenges the Bruckner cliche (weight, breadth, monumentality) with something utterly new...it's a valuable corrective” Gramophone Magazine, October 2012

“A Bruckner symphony played by a chamber orchestra?...Bruckner’s lyrical moments achieve a wonderful intimacy, while his quirky structures and changing textures knit together in a manner hard to duplicate with big forces. Dausgaard’s players, horns especially, revel in the spotlight. Refreshing.” The Times, 15th January 2011 ****

“It's certainly revealing to hear Bruckner's textures opened out so that the inner voices are more audible, and the woodwind lines are for once not swaddled in huge pillows of string sound.” The Guardian, 20th January 2011 ***

“Bruckner played by a chamber orchestra?...Yet when played with the transparency, flexibility and individual character of these admired Swedish musicians, the results are exhilarating...If you have an obstinate resistance to Brucknerian weightiness, this recording offers a fresh, totally unturgid approach.” The Observer, 23rd January 2011

“This account is excellent - perfectly paced and balanced - and the smallish orchestra is all to the good in making Bruckner's stark originality clear. But it would be unfair to regard the work itself, or this fresh account of it, as primarily to be listened to for instruction. The Second is a lovable and absorbing work, to be treasured for itself.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2011 *****

“Dausgaard takes the opening movement as an unarguable though never inflexible Moderato...The Andante is the highlight of this performance...Although shorn of all its repeats, the Scherzo never feels too brief thanks to observance of its 'Mäßig schnell' marking and an astute interplay of its incisive and more capricious elements.” International Record Review, March 2011