Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
|
Bernard Haitink
conductor
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, WAB 105
Anton Bruckner and Bernard Haitink: some symbiotic pairings of composer and performer warrant the highest expectations in the concert world. Those who heard Haitink conducting Bruckner's Seventh and Eighth Symphonies in Lucerne's last two summer festivals will keenly look forward to this evening's reading of the Fifth. This symphony, which Bruckner himself never heard during his lifetime, is considered a touchstone for every conductor: it unites learned counterpoint with emotional impact, an expansive formal design with complex textures worked out measure by measure. The conductor needs both a long breath and a passion for detail, a sense of rigorous architecture and freedom for the intricate transitions. 'One can only admire the consummate artistry, insight into details, sense of cohesion and heart-warming musicality with which Bernard Haitink guides us through this gigantic edifice', wrote Peter Hagmann in the 'Neue Zürcher Zeitung' of Haitink's reading of the Fifth.
A project funded by the Zürich Versicherungs-Gesellschaft AG.