Bruckner: Symphony No. 4, "Romantic"

Album review

For this 2016 release on the Munich Philharmonic's own label, Valery Gergiev leads the orchestra in a spirited live performance of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, "Romantic," using the 1953 edition by Leopold Nowak. This version of the symphony is the most familiar to audiences and is considered more or less standard, though Bruckner's other versions have been increasingly recorded, giving this CD considerable competition. Gergiev's reading is straightforward and unfussy, with conventional tempos and minimal rubato, and the musicians play with enough vitality to keep the music from flagging, which is sometimes a hazard in the second movement. While seekers of novelty may prefer to hear the dramatically different 1874 version, or seek recordings that offer the "Romantic" in historically accurate style with period instrumentation, most listeners will appreciate that Gergiev has taken the safest approach, especially since this is his first commercial recording of a Bruckner symphony. The Munich Philharmonic, however, has played this work many times under other conductors, such as Christian Thielemann, Sergiu Celibidache, and Günter Wand, so their assured playing comes from experience. The audio reproduction is quite clear and offers full sound with only minor audience noises intruding.

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