Composers: Bruckner
Compositions: Symphony No 9
Performers: Pittsburg SO/Manfred Honeck
Catalogue Number: Reference Recordings FR733

I found Honeck’s account of Bruckner’s last will and testament, the Ninth Symphony, enthralling. It perfectly captures a mood of angry defiance, worthy of Lear on the “blasted heath” indicating that this seemingly God-fearing Christian did not intend to “go gentle into that good night”. The cataclysmic passages in the outer movements are almost overwhelming but never coarse, and full of nuance and detail. An extreme dynamic range is meticulously applied.