Bruckner Symphony no.3 - 'Wagner Symphony'

Sakari+Oramo+is+Chief+Conductor+and+Artistic+Advisor+of+the+Royal+Stockholm+Philharmonic+Orchestra+and+this+is+their+in-depth+interpretation+of+Bruckner%26%2339%3Bs+Third+Symphony+%28the+third+version%29.%3Cbr+%2F%3E%3Cbr+%2F%3EThe+unique+synthesis+which+produced+Bruckner%26rsquo%3Bs+mature+symphonic+style%2C+combining+the+Viennese+Classical+tradition+of+Mozart%2C+Beethoven+and+Schubert%2C+the+Renaissance+and+Baroque+counterpoint+which+he+studied+so+assiduously%2C+and+the+vast+harmonic+spans+and+dramatic+gestures+of+Wagner%26rsquo%3Bs+operas%2C+is+clearly+evident+in+the+third+of+his+nine+%28numbered%29+symphonies.+This+was+composed+in+1872+and+%26rsquo%3B73%2C+during+the+composer%26rsquo%3Bs+early+years+in+Vienna+as+a+professor+at+the+Conservatoire.+While+it+was+still+in+progress%2C+Bruckner+showed+the+score+to+his+idol+Wagner+at+Bayreuth%2C+and+obtained+permission+to+dedicate+it+to+him.+However%2C+the+endorsement+of+the+progressive+Wagner+was+no+passport+to+success+in+conservative+Vienna.+The+work%26rsquo%3Bs+first+performance+in+December+1877%2C+given+by+the+Vienna+Philharmonic+under+the+composer+%28an+inexperienced+conductor%29%2C+was+a+disaster%3A+many+of+the+audience+left+the+hall+during+the+performance%2C+and+at+the+end+the+orchestral+players+walked+off%2C+leaving+the+hapless+Bruckner+alone+on+the+platform.%3Cbr+%2F%3E%3Cbr+%2F%3EAt+this+point%2C+the+Symphony+had+been+undergoing+a+drastic+revision%2C+including+the+removal+of+several+literal+quotations+from+Wagner.+In+1878+it+was+published+in+its+revised+form%2C+in+full+score+and+in+a+piano+duet+arrangement+by+the+seventeen-year-old+Gustav+Mahler+and+his+fellow-student+Rudolf+Krzyzanowski.+A+decade+later%2C+in+1888+and+%26rsquo%3B89%2C+against+Mahler%26rsquo%3Bs+advice%2C+Bruckner+made+another+thorough+revision+of+the+score+for+republication%2C+with+the+assistance+of+his+pupils+Franz+and+Joseph+Schalk.+The+edition+by+Leopold+Nowak+used+for+the+present+recording+represents+this+version+as+it+was+prepared+for+the+engraver%2C+without+some+suspect+accretions+attributed+to+the+Schalk+brothers+which+found+their+way+into+the+publication+of+1890.+Compared+with+the+previous+versions%2C+this+final+recension+includes+substantial+cuts+in+the+second+movement%2C+and+further+cuts%2C+as+well+as+one+new%2C+shorter+transition%2C+in+the+finale.+The+Symphony+was+first+performed+in+its+ultimate+version+by+the+Vienna+Philharmonic+under+the+great+Hans+Richter+in+December+1890%2C+and+this+time+was+a+triumphant+success+%26ndash%3B+perhaps+reflecting+how+much+Bruckner+had+improved+the+work%2C+though+that+is+still+the+subject+of+some+critical+dispute%2C+but+also+indicating+how+his+stock+had+risen+with+the+critics%2C+the+public+and+even+the+players+over+the+previous+thirteen+years.+%28from+the+CD+linernotes+by+Anthony+Burton+%26copy%3B+2012%29%3Cbr+%2F%3E%3Cbr+%2F%3E