Solti conducts Bruckner: Symphony No. 2

It’s almost a cliché to describe Bruckner’s symphonies as “cathedrals in sound”, and especially when the symphony in question is the Second: perhaps Bruckner’s most personal homage to the Viennese classical tradition. But there’s an unmistakable synergy between visuals and music in this live performance from the magnificent Romanesque cathedral at Speyer in Bavaria, with Sir Georg Solti conducting the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra in a setting steeped in the south German Catholic tradition that Bruckner loved so much. Solti brought an irrepressible energy to everything he conducted, and this is no exception. The result is a near-perfect meeting of music and architecture.