Maazel / Bav RSO Bruckner

[mathias broucek]

I see this set was a "Critics Choice" on Radio 3. Has anyone heard it or seen a detailed review?

I'm a big Bav RSO fan although less so of Maazel. I tend to think that you can never have too many Bruckner recordings and I can get this quite cheaply from emusic but I don't want to have something that won't enjoy listening to.

[scottycelt]

I see this set was a "Critics Choice" on Radio 3. Has anyone heard it or seen a detailed review?

I'm a big Bav RSO fan although less so of Maazel. I tend to think that you can never have too many Bruckner recordings and I can get this quite cheaply from emusic but I don't want to have something that won't enjoy listening to.

I've never even heard of this set. I once saw Maazel conduct the 8th in London (with a local orchestra) but it was pretty run-of-the-mill stuff, in truth. My very favourite recording of the 5th is by Jochum and the Bavarians. A refreshingly earthy way to approach Bruckner, imho ... duly meditative and sublime in parts of course, but also raspingly rugged as well as gloriously triumphant in that incomparable Finale.

Many conductors seem to excel in Bruckner very late in their careers, so maybe Maazel might well have something to offer here, especially with an orchestra which traditionally has always had a very special 'feel' for this particular composer.

[Thomas Roth]

These are live performances from 1999 and so far I have heard nos 1 & 9 only. I liked no 1 very much and no 9 a bit less. Maazel is very slow and there are moments when the music almost stops. But they are majestic readings well worth hearing and they remind me of his Mahler cycle where everything is spotlit. The recorded sound is very good and the orchestra plays beautifully, of course.

[Mandryka]

He conducted a superlative 7th with the LSO in early 1999, which remains one of the most memorable concerts I've attended.