The deepest performances of the Bruckner symphonies.

[Mandryka]

Man, you sound exactly like John (MI) in his numerous great but very short-lived enthusiasms for this or that composer. 

Well, the last time I felt enthusiastic about Bruckner was 1984. I guess I'm a confirmed Bruckner sceptic.

By the way, I hope none of your family or friends have been suffering in the recent floods in Romania.

[Florestan]

Well, the last time I felt enthusiastic about Bruckner was 1984. I guess I'm a confirmed Bruckner sceptic.

By the way, I hope none of your family or friends have been suffering in the recent floods in Romania.

Fortunately, none at all. Thanks for your concern.

[brewski]

Well I've come to the conclusion that I'm not ready for Bruckner yet. Thanks for the ideas, but the time isn't right.

Good for you for testing (or retesting) the waters. I believe strongly that anyone can omit any composer(s) they choose from their personal listening. Perhaps the time will be right — even if 30 years from now — for another visit.

-Bruce

[Iota]

Well I've come to the conclusion that I'm not ready for Bruckner yet. Thanks for the ideas, but the time isn't right.

Sounds like a good decision.

Maybe it's because this type of music is so simple 

I think that's essentially right. Bruckner (like Messiaen e.g, though he's far from simple) is a very particular composer, I can't think of anybody else that composes like him. His symphonies generally seem to me to move along like ocean liners, that head along in one way for a while, have a brief pause, then head off in another, continuing in similar fashion until a monumental coda brings matters to a conclusion. A bit like the Alan Bennett quote "History is just one f***ing thing after another", I guess.
And if that doesn't appeal, well you aren't left with much to go on really. Of course if it does, it can inspire a very deep affection, and take you to some very special places, a fact of which I am living proof.

[Mandryka]

Good for you for testing (or retesting) the waters. I believe strongly that anyone can omit any composer(s) they choose from their personal listening. Perhaps the time will be right — even if 30 years from now — for another visit.

-Bruce

I don't actually think I can afford to be here 30 years from now.

[DavidW]

Man, you sound exactly like John (MI) in his numerous great but very short-lived enthusiasms for this or that composer. 

Paulb fits even better!

[DavidW]

Well I've come to the conclusion that I'm not ready for Bruckner yet. Thanks for the ideas, but the time isn't right.

I recommend Robert Simpson. His music architecturally rhymes with Bruckner (and also Nielsen), but his symphonies and chamber music have a very different soundscape that might appeal to you.

[Florestan]

Paulb fits even better!

I remember him only vaguely.

[DavidW]

I remember him only vaguely.

Time does that!

[brewski]

My go-to is the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. (They are my go-to for any "normal" composer.)

Maybe the best live recordings, sonically, on YouTube:

https://m.youtube.com/@hrSinfonieorchester/videos

Nice to see some love for the Frankfurt crew, which I have grown to love over the last few years, too. Totally agree about their sound quality, and the video is superb.

Among other pluses, one day I realized that on their channel they have not one, but three versions of the Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra, with conductors Edward Gardner (2015), Krzysztof Urbański (2021), and Marta Gardolińska (2024). And all are outstanding. At this point, I will listen to pretty much whatever they post.

-Bruce

[hopefullytrusting]

Nice to see some love for the Frankfurt crew, which I have grown to love over the last few years, too. Totally agree about their sound quality, and the video is superb.

Among other pluses, one day I realized that on their channel they have not one, but three versions of the Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra, with conductors Edward Gardner (2015), Krzysztof Urbański (2021), and Marta Gardolińska (2024). And all are outstanding. At this point, I will listen to pretty much whatever they post.

-Bruce

After in full, I listen to pretty much all their performances, and am consistently blown away - their sound engineers are also out of this world.

I also love the NDR and WDR.

https://m.youtube.com/@NDRKlassik/videos

https://m.youtube.com/@WDRKlassik/videos

For me, this is the golden age of "classical" music. :-)

[brewski]

After in full, I listen to pretty much all their performances, and am consistently blown away - their sound engineers are also out of this world.

I also love the NDR and WDR.

https://m.youtube.com/@NDRKlassik/videos

https://m.youtube.com/@WDRKlassik/videos

For me, this is the golden age of "classical" music. :-)

Yes, yes, and yes! As I've said elsewhere, we live in a golden age of string quartets (meaning ensembles), and that could very well apply to the current era of classical music in general. When you take traditional recordings, the avalanche of streaming (one of the few good things to come out of the pandemic), and all the archived "audio-only" broadcasts (e.g., from radio stations like WQXR or WRTI), there's a ton of great music to hear, and almost all of it free.

So speaking of the WDR, and in keeping with the spirit of the thread, here's another Bruckner symphony — this time the Fifth, with conductor Marek Janowski.

-Bruce

[hopefullytrusting]

Yes, yes, and yes! As I've said elsewhere, we live in a golden age of string quartets (meaning ensembles), and that could very well apply to the current era of classical music in general. When you take traditional recordings, the avalanche of streaming (one of the few good things to come out of the pandemic), and all the archived "audio-only" broadcasts (e.g., from radio stations like WQXR or WRTI), there's a ton of great music to hear, and almost all of it free.

So speaking of the WDR, and in keeping with the spirit of the thread, here's another Bruckner symphony — this time the Fifth, with conductor Marek Janowski.

-Bruce

And even beyond that, major conductor and composers having YouTube channels, answering questions, explaining theory, etc.

Channels like tonebase: https://m.youtube.com/@tonebasePiano/videos, getting the best pianists in the world to play, give criticism, engage in fairly intense dialogue, etc.

And then something as mind-boggling as this: Stanislav Kochanovsky & Stephen Hough: Encounter with Manuscripts of Sergei Rachmaninoff - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VNZHpn7Sm6A

To contribute to the thread, it was this disc, that I got sent by accident, that opened my ears to Bruckner:

[Le Buisson Ardent]

A composer I know nothing about - the last time I enjoyed to a Bruckner symphony was in 1984. I just can't hear anything significant in the music. He may just not be my sort of composer, a blind spot, but it is time to explore that a bit more maybe. Recommendations appreciated.

Just an observation, but if you can't hear anything significant in Bruckner's music, then why bother trying to understand it now? Aren't you setting yourself up for an early defeat?

But wait...

Well I've come to the conclusion that I'm not ready for Bruckner yet. Thanks for the ideas, but the time isn't right.

Forget everything I just posted above.

[Le Buisson Ardent]

To give @Mandryka an idea of...well...something, Bruckner was one of my early musical loves (and still is for that matter). When I listened to the recording of Giulini's 9th with the Wiener Philharmoniker on DG, it was love on first-listen. I've been a huge fan of his music ever since. For me, and perhaps only for me, Bruckner is a composer that you either respond to early on (of course, there are exceptions) or you don't.

It's a good idea that you're not forcing yourself to like a composer whose music you have no affinity for. I mean the fact that it's been since 1984 that you enjoyed a Bruckner work speaks volumes I think. Life's too short to make yourself like music that gives you no emotional/intellectual gratification.

[Mandryka]

It's hard to know what might be the key that unlocks him for you.

Sobriety, I've just discovered Klemperer's Philharmonia Bruckner 7 and I like it more.

[Cato]

A composer I know nothing about - the last time I enjoyed to a Bruckner symphony was in 1984. I just can't hear anything significant in the music. He may just not be my sort of composer, a blind spot, but it is time to explore that a bit more maybe. Recommendations appreciated.

Well, have you listened to e.g. the Seventh Symphony?  Here is Eugen Jochum in his later years, conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

[brewski]

Sobriety, I've just discovered Klemperer's Philharmonia Bruckner 7 and I like it more.

Since I don't recall hearing this recording, giving it a go now. It's wonderful.

-Bruce

[Le Buisson Ardent]

Sobriety, I've just discovered Klemperer's Philharmonia Bruckner 7 and I like it more.

Klemperer was great in Mahler and Brahms, for example, but his Bruckner never did anything for me. I just don't think he has the feel for the composer's music. But, hey, I'm glad you're making some progress with Bruckner!

[LKB]

Klemperer was great in Mahler and Brahms, for example, but his Bruckner never did anything for me. I just don't think he has the feel for the composer's music. But, hey, I'm glad you're making some progress with Bruckner!

Klemperer's EMI recording of the Sixth with ( l think ) the New Philharmonia is well-regarded. I find it slightly un-idiomatic, but still effective. YMMV, of course.