Sir Georg Solti (1912-1997), one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, was a testament to the elegance and impeccable tastefulness of Central European music-making. Born in Budapest in 1912, he studied with Béla Bartók, Ernö von Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner. In 1937, Toscanini chose him to be his assistant at the Salzburg Festival. After the war, Solti was appointed Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera. Further stations in his career were the Frankfurt Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the London Philharmonic. Solti’s remarkable partnership with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra began in 1954, when he first led the orchestra at the Ravinia Festival. After returning to conduct the ensemble several times during the following years, he was named Music Director in 1969 and held this post for a phenomenal 22 years. He is credited with greatly extending and enhancing the orchestra’s worldwide reputation. “In Chicago he has whipped, cajoled, hammered, burnished and conjured an orchestral sound that manages to be two entirely opposite things at once. On the one hand, there is that seductive, mellow roar from the winds and brass; on the other, a meticulously controlled string tone whereby more than 60 players take on the crispness and clarity of a chamber ensemble.” (Newsweek, Oct. 19, 1987) Solti died in September 1997, just before his 85th birthday. Anton Bruckner began working on his Seventh Symphony in 1881 and completed it on 5 September 1883. The first performance was led by Arthur Nikish in Leipzig on 30 December 1884 and was a success that helped establish the composer as a major composer. The work has since become Bruckner’s most popular symphony. This recording features the Chicago Symphony under Sir Georg Solti.
Bruckner, Symphony No.8 in C minor (1887 Version)
For his recording of Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony, Herbert von Karajan chose the version of 1887, one of the earliest of several revisions. The performance with the Vienna Philharmonic was recorded live in the spring of 1979 at the monastery church of St. Florian near Linz, where Bruckner spent many years as a student and teacher in his youth.
Rehearsal for Bruckner, Symphony No.4 in E flat major “Romantic”
Rafael Kubelik (1914-1996) was the son of the well-known Bohemian violinist Jan Kubelik. He studied music in Prague and made his conducting debut at 20 at the head of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Later he became the principal conductor of this famous orchestra and founded the “Prague Spring” Festival. After the Communist takeover of the government, Kubelik emigrated to the West and returned to his native land only after the end of the Communist regime. From 1950 to 1953 he headed the Chicago Symphony, from 1955 to 1958 he was music director of the Covent Garden Opera in London. A period of great artistic successes began in 1961, when he was appointed principal conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Many recordings document Kubelik’s mastery and sense of artistry, his enjoyment of music and his temperament. His connection with the Munich orchestra lasted 18 years; in between, he also briefly served as music director of New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Kubelik retired from the concert staged in 1985. But on the occasion of the first Prague Spring Festival after the fall of Communism in 1990, he returned to the podium of the Czech Philharmonic after more than 40 years in exile and conducted Smetana’s “My Fatherland” cycle. His profound bonds with his native land and its composers were always clearly visible. Rafael Kubelik was a full-blooded musician. Every performance of his radiated a feeling of spontaneity, impulsiveness and joy. Kubelik died in Lucerne in August 1996 at the age of 82 after a long illness. Bruckner’s Fourth had a tortuous history, beginning with a first version in 1874 and leading to a number of revisions, both major and minor, culminating in a heavily cut first publication of the score in 1889. This first edition, however, violated Bruckner’s express wishes that the score be printed in its entirety. After World War II, a new scholarly edition was published and is generally used for performances to this day. Rafael Kubelik leads the Vienna Philharmonic in this recording.
Bruckner, Symphony No.4 in E flat major “Romantic”
Rafael Kubelik (1914-1996) was the son of the well-known Bohemian violinist Jan Kubelik. He studied music in Prague and made his conducting debut at 20 at the head of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Later he became the principal conductor of this famous orchestra and founded the “Prague Spring” Festival. After the Communist takeover of the government, Kubelik emigrated to the West and returned to his native land only after the end of the Communist regime. From 1950 to 1953 he headed the Chicago Symphony, from 1955 to 1958 he was music director of the Covent Garden Opera in London. A period of great artistic successes began in 1961, when he was appointed principal conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Many recordings document Kubelik’s mastery and sense of artistry, his enjoyment of music and his temperament. His connection with the Munich orchestra lasted 18 years; in between, he also briefly served as music director of New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Kubelik retired from the concert staged in 1985. But on the occasion of the first Prague Spring Festival after the fall of Communism in 1990, he returned to the podium of the Czech Philharmonic after more than 40 years in exile and conducted Smetana’s “My Fatherland” cycle. His profound bonds with his native land and its composers were always clearly visible. Rafael Kubelik was a full-blooded musician. Every performance of his radiated a feeling of spontaneity, impulsiveness and joy. Kubelik died in Lucerne in August 1996 at the age of 82 after a long illness. Bruckner’s Fourth had a tortuous history, beginning with a first version in 1874 and leading to a number of revisions, both major and minor, culminating in a heavily cut first publication of the score in 1889. This first edition, however, violated Bruckner’s express wishes that the score be printed in its entirety. After World War II, a new scholarly edition was published and is generally used for performances to this day. Rafael Kubelik leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in this recording.
Salzburg Festival 2022: Christian Thielemann & Elina Garanca
“What a sound pleasure, what a playing culture! […] Bruckner’s ‘Ninth’ without burdens, without any heaviness. Symphony in Schubert’s sense, seductive, apollonian.” (Kronenzeitung) To mark the bicentenary of Anton Bruckner’s birth in 2024, Christian Thielemann, the Wiener Philharmoniker and Unitel record the first Bruckner cycle with a single conductor in the orchestra’s history. After a truly magnificent performance of the Seventh Symphony in 2021, the stellar conductor returns to the Salzburg Festival with the Ninth to finish the cycle. In the first part of the concert, Christian Thielemann joins forces with Latvian star mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor for Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody. PROGRAM: Brahms: Alto Rhapsody for voice, male chorus and orchestra, Op. 53; Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D minor
Salzburg Festival 2021: Thielemann conducts Mahler & Bruckner
After a truly magnificent performance of the Fourth Symphony in 2020, the stellar conductor returns to the Salzburg Festival with the Seventh Symphony, one of Bruckner’s most popular works. In the first part of the concert, Christian Thielemann joins forces with Latvian star soprano Elina Garanca for Mahler’s Lieder. “Expressive but without false pathos, he shapes the Rückert Lieder – audibly inspired by the magnificent Elina Garanca, whose perfectly focused voice sounds wonderfully sensual. A haunting evening”, hailed br-klassik.de. PROGRAM Mahler: Rückert-Lieder; Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
Thielemann conducts Bruckner “Study Symphony” & “Nullte”
To mark Anton Bruckner’s bicentenary in 2024, Christian Thielemann, the Wiener Philharmoniker and Unitel are recording the first Bruckner cycle with a single conductor in the orchestra’s history. “Two premieres: With the Study Symphony and the and the ‘Nullte’, the Wiener Philharmoniker under Christian Thielemann continued their Bruckner cycle in the empty Musikverein. For orchestra and conductor, these were first encounters. The result can already be said to be of great caliber.” Kronen Zeitung. PROGRAM Bruckner: Symphony in F minor, WAB 99 (Study Symphony), Symphony in D minor, WAB 100 (Nullte)
Salzburg Festival 2020: Thielemann conducts Wagner & Bruckner
“Ignited monumental chamber music: Together with an orchestra that breathes with her, Garanca proved that she currently represents the non plus ultra in the mezzosoprano
category. Grandiose the fusion of intensity and noble sound” Der Standard. PROGRAM Wagner: Five Poems for female voice and piano “Wesendonck Lieder”; Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 “Romantic”
Salzburg Festival 2019: Haitink conducts Bruckner & Beethoven
To end his active conducting career after 65 years, maestro Bernard Haitink together with the Wiener Philharmoniker gives a farewell concert at the Grosses Festspielhaus, leaving no doubt of being one of the best Bruckner interpreters ever. The Dutch conductor, who was appointed honorary member of the Wiener Philharmoniker shortly before the concert, is joined by star pianist Emanuel Ax in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. The concert ends with Bruckner’s monumental Symphony No. 7: “No more Bruckner under Haitink, that’s a cut in the history of interpretation” (Wiener Zeitung). PROGRAM Bruckner: Symphony No 7; Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 4
Thielemann conducts Bruckner No. 2
Christian Thielemann’s brilliant interpretation of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 2 is superbly performed by the Staatskapelle Dresden and concludes its critically acclaimed Bruckner Cycle with a concert at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. The orchestra makes skilled use of the new hall’s clear acoustics, filling the space with its warm sound: simply phenomenal! A concert that “will go down in the annals of the Elbphilharmonie” (Die Welt).