Recorded live in July, 2013 in Ebrach Abbey, this performance of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 5 in B flat major continues the cycle on Profil by Gerd Schaller and the Philharmonie Festiva. While gradations of dynamics are usually expected in Bruckner performances and can be controlled in a concert hall with moderately resonant acoustics, the unique qualities of this symphony -- when played in an extremely reverberant church -- give it something closer to terraced dynamics, with essentially three volume levels: extremely ...
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Recorded live in July, 2013 in Ebrach Abbey, this performance of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 5 in B flat major continues the cycle on Profil by Gerd Schaller and the Philharmonie Festiva. While gradations of dynamics are usually expected in Bruckner performances and can be controlled in a concert hall with moderately resonant acoustics, the unique qualities of this symphony -- when played in an extremely reverberant church -- give it something closer to terraced dynamics, with essentially three volume levels: extremely soft, moderately loud, and resounding. Because this symphony is structured with distinct motivic and thematic sections, connecting passages, and intricate fugal episodes, the incidental differentiation of sections by volume levels may be confusing to listeners who don't know the symphony well or fully understand its organization. Even so, this is a magnificent sounding recording, especially in the stirring Finale, which Bruckner regarded as his contrapuntal masterpiece. Fans of...
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