Favorite Bruckner Symphony

[JBS]

Me neither. Here's the Karajan Bruckner I have: the Vienna 8th, the Vienna 7th, and the EMI Berlin 4th. So nothing of the Berlin/DG cycle, which seems to be what people like. I suppose I will get around to hearing it some day, but I already have so much Bruckner... and as for other cycles that I'm interested in getting, Karajan is not really high on the list. (I think my next one, if there ever will be a next one, will be Wand/Köln.)

My two bytes: The Karajan/EMI recordings are top rank Bruckner.
The First/Second/Third from the BPO cycle are very good recordings of the three Bruckner symphonies I like least.
The rest of his Bruckner ranges between "meh" and "lots of other conductors did as good a job if not better".

[Cato]

The 6th is a close second for me, and I'm sad no one voted for it.

Yes, the Sixth is very high up on my list too!

[vandermolen]

No.9
In the days of LP No.8 was my favourite (Horenstein) but I also like 5 and 3 especially.

[DaveF]

It has to be no.5 - favourite recording (surprising even to me) Franz Welser-Möst and the LPO.  But also feel sorry for no.6 - it's the most lovable.

Karajan's Vienna 8 has always been on my list of greatest recordings, so I'm clearly going to have to hear his Berlin one, based on above opinions.  And a fairly recent ear-opener has been Simone Young with the Hamburg Philharmonic playing the 1878 version - the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order!

[Jo498]

My favorite is #7, although #5 the most "interesting" (I also love the dynamic, "irreverential" recording by Welser Möst, Harnoncourt is not dissimilar, I am not sure which one I preferred). I lack the patience for the huge finale of #8 and also find its scherzo not as good as some others. The one I like considerably less than most people seem to, is #4 (that used to be the most popular Bruckner by some margin).

[vers la flamme]

I hate to be that guy, especially as the author of this poll, but I'm thinking of changing my answer to "whichever one I happen to be listening to at the time".

[Lisztianwagner]

I rarely listen to Karajan's Bruckner with the Wiener Philharmoniker (I have both the 7th and the 8th Symphony), I definitely prefer his Symphony Cycle with the Berliner Philharmoniker; every performance shows a very high quality, there's alway such a great sense of majesty, but at the same time such an impressive, touching profoundity as well as an overwhelming intensity when the movements grow into climaxes. For a long time the Karajan was the only Bruckner I needed, and it is still rather unparalleled, but now I admit the Jochum is superb too.

[Jo498]

The vienna 7th was marketed as Karajan's last recording and the 8th was also fairly late, so they go a special reputation vs. the Berlin ones with the wing on the cover.

[Cato]

I hate to be that guy, especially as the author of this poll, but I'm thinking of changing my answer to "whichever one I happen to be listening to at the time".

Excellent choice!   

I have no problems being that guy, as you probably know!!! 

[Spotted Horses]

The Eighth was my favorite when I first got to know the complete cycle. I think it has now been supplanted by the 6th. The 8th has not receded far among in my esteem, but I am tending to find myself less attracted to Bruckner in general.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I voted for 9. The finale is usually the weakest part of any Bruckner symphony, and the 9th lacks a finale, which is an additional point in its favor. I think it really is finished as it is, and Bruckner probably didn't realize it.

Definitely the Eighth. In the early 1970s, I discovered this recording with Haitink and the Concertgebouw, and played it endlessly. ...

This is actually the early 1980s recording. I know because I had it. Yes, it's a very good one, but the 9th they did about the same time is even better - one of the best ever.

[vers la flamme]

Dang, I don't have/haven't heard any of Haitink's Bruckner either. Another one for the to-do list...

[Sergeant Rock]

The Third

Sarge

[ChamberNut]

The Third

Sarge

I knew as soon as there was a vote for the 3rd, it was Sarge! 

[Sergeant Rock]

I knew as soon as there was a vote for the 3rd, it was Sarge! 

 

Sarge

[ChamberNut]

There is not a wrong pick possible, except maybe for the first 4 (0,00,1,2) 

[Spotted Horses]

Dang, I don't have/haven't heard any of Haitink's Bruckner either. Another one for the to-do list...

The original Haitink/CO cycle is my overall favorite, although there are other individual recordings that I hold it equally high regard.

[vers la flamme]

Happy to see a vote for 2. Reminds me that it's probably worth another listen, though it is the one Bruckner symphony that I don't remember a note of.

[Brian]

7634985 and then no ranking-worthy opinion on the early ones.

Agree with the comment that the finale is usually the weakest part of a Bruckner symphony. The exception is 5, where the ending is the best part, but I find the first three movements terribly boring. 

8's adagio is maybe my favorite single movement but the rest is so repetitive!

Conductors/performances that "unlocked" symphonies for me:
3 - Tintner and Nagano (the last edition was easier to understand)
4 - Honeck
5 - Dohnanyi at I think Sarge's recommendation??
6 - this one was easy to get
7 - Tintner but now my favorite is Bruno Walter live at Carnegie Hall in mono
8 - Boulez
9 - Honeck and Bruno Walter

Maybe I need to try this Karajan 8!

[vers la flamme]

If I were to attempt a ranking, today it would go something like this (descending)

7
5
6
3
4
9
1
8
0

... and then my memory of 2 and 00 is flagging too much to place them.

3 jumped in my estimation hugely over these past two months, in which I've been listening to a ton of Bruckner, and that one more than any. Ditto 5; I always loved it, but now it just might be my favorite. But there's something magical about the 7th—those first two movements.

I should hear the 9th again soon.