Composer: Anton Bruckner
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: LSO Live
Catalogue: LSO0887
Release: 2023
Size: 2.08 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Symphony No. 7 in E Major
01. I. Allegro moderato
02. II. Adagio. Sehr feierlich und langsam – Moderato
03. III. Scherzo. Sehr schnell – Trio. Etwas langsamer – Scherzo da capo
04. IV. Finale. Bewegt, doch nicht schnell
BBC Music MagazineNovember 2023
This is an exceptional performance which, despite the unyielding acoustics of the Barbican, held me spellbound from the mysterious violin tremolo of the first bar to the glorious affirmation of life in the big orchestral peroration at the end of the Finale. Supported by superb playing from the LSO, Rattle’s interpretation is subtle and insightful.
Just as they do today, Anton Bruckner’s symphonies posed challenges for listeners when they first appeared. The Symphony No. 7 in E major was the exception; it was beloved from the start and remains one of the composer’s most popular works. This live recording of the work by Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra is the first to use the so-called original text complete edition, which includes a cymbals crash in the Adagio, which Bruckner later removed, and Wagner tubas beefing up the exuberant (for Bruckner) finale. However, what is really distinctive about the performance is simply that Rattle takes the accessibility of the work at face value. The Adagio, a memorial for Wagner, is straightforward and sober. The Scherzo, which shows Bruckner in full rustic mode, is bright and sunny, with the LSO brass keeping up with Rattle’s forward momentum. The finale takes its rightful place as one of the most life-affirming Bruckner wrote. Somehow, the sound from the Barbican in London fails to work here; it needs a richer, more burnished tinge, but it is listenable, and the album conveys the pleasure listeners must have experienced even if no applause is included.