Bruckner: Symphony No. 8

Language available : english

Published to mark the 75th birthday of the German conductor Hartmut Haenchen, Bruckner's Eighth Symphony figures as the first stone laid in a new complete works that the conductor is planning, to follow the first one that he recorded in the 1990s with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. It is based on the new critical edition which was so difficult to draw up given all the corrections and additions that Bruckner constantly made throughout his life.
Bruckner's Eighth Symphony, with its gargantuan scope and tremendously complex writing, has often been analysed: but no-one has ever really laid bare the depths of its nature. As for the composer himself, he was probably himself stumped by the stature of his creation, and he liked to say by way of explanation that the work was "a mystery", which is the subtitle that the editor has given this album. Born in Dresden in the midst of the war, two years before the bombs fell and destroyed that artistic centre, Hartmut Haenchen worked with masters as diverse as Boulez, Karajan and Mravinski. Lesser-known to the public than some star conductors, he brought intense activity to the art, to opera (more than 70 productions), to concert halls and to the studio, with more than 130 recordings.
By nature very curious, he brought back a number of works from the past, in particular by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, an inventive and utterly visionary musician. Believed to be one of the oldest orchestras in the world, the Royal Danish Orchestra goes back to 1448. Today, it is universally appreciated, thanks to the exceptional quality of its string section, made up of excellent instruments made by great Italian manufacturers of stringed instruments. Bruckner's music holds no secrets for this orchestra, which has been playing it since the early 20th century, led by the greatest German and international conductors. © François Hudry/Qobuz