I'm looking to expand my listening to Bruckner and have been sampling some of his symphonies. The main theme of the 1st symphony instantly hooked me so now I'm looking for recordings of the work. Of course, I have stumbled upon the Bruckner Problem and now I don't know what to look for here. What are the differences I should be aware of between the different versions of the first symphony?
I've been looking into the Chailly recording and am not sure if that's a good place to start. Are there any recommendations for this work, or his others, for someone new to him?
The 1891 Vienna version is a revision whereas Bruckner revisited the work's orchestration. Many brucknerites (like me ;D) consider it over orchestrated. The 1877 Linz version is rougher, more rustic and more exciting. The original, 1866 version has rarely been played/recorded. Tintner did it on Naxos. The vast majority of recordings is of the 1877 Linz version.
Favourite versions are Haitink, Neumann, Jochum DGG - all playing the 1877 version.
Bruckner did actually have preferred versions of all his symphonies. Apart from No. 1, where his preference was Vienna, and No.3, where his preference was 1877, they are pretty much the usual Nowak editions. I would just get a good cycle of the symphonies (I like Skrowaczewski) and then supplement with alternate versions (particularly 1873 and 1877 versions of No. 3), if you are interested.