Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in E-Flat Major, WAB 104 "Romantische" (Version 1878/80 [Live, Hamburg, 2021])

Album review

Alan Gilbert was the first New York native Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, having held the position for nearly ten years at that. Since 2019, he has held a similar post at the head of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg (formerly the NDR Symphony Orchestra).

Following a Seventh Symphony with this same orchestra released under the Sony Classical label and an Eighth at the helm of the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert now continues his Brucknerian exploration with the Symphony No. 4, known as Romantic, released under the German orchestra’s own label. The record blends textures as a fervor bordering on the dreamlike pervades the solid architectural sense of his unique musical world.

Of all the Austrian master's symphonies, the Fourth is the one that underwent the most substantial revisions. There are three versions, with sometimes contradictory variations. For this new recording, Alan Gilbert has chosen the second version, with its famous scherzo, “The Hunt,” and a new finale in the form of a “Volkfest” (“Folk Festival”). © François Hudry/Qobuz