Anton Bruckner’s First Symphony and the question of the right version: a conversation with conductor and Bruckner specialist Gerd Schaller. “Above all, I am fascinated by this perfect blend of intellect and emotion. It is something that I cannot find in this form in the work of any other composer. And then these incredible walls of sound, when the music climbs from a passage almost of chamber intimacy to an overwhelming fortissimo, it simply takes possession of me! Then there is the ground-breaking harmony and profundity of his late work in particular. And then the spiritual dimension of his music, the soaring wind passages, the wild string figures, all the brilliant instrumentation, his amazing feel for the different voices... — So, to sum up, there is actually nothing that I do not like!” This release belongs to the project Bruckner 2024: all Bruckner´s symphonies in their most important versions will be performed and recorded to the composer’s bicentenary in 2024
