Bruckner: Symphony No 9

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Simon Rattle EMI Classics 952 9692 ****

This is no ordinary account of the Ninth Symphony that Bruckner left in an incomplete, three-movement state on his death in 1896. It includes a23-minute, 653-bar account of the finale, as painstakingly reconstructed over nearly three decades by Nicola Samale, Giuseppe Mazzuca, John Philips and Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs. Completions of Bruckner’s Ninth have been made and recorded by various hands over the years, including earlier versions of this latest one.

Simon Rattle strongly argues the case for Samale et al's newest conclusions, making an analogy with "reconstructing someone's face in surgery after an accident" and pointing out that "there is much more Bruckner here than there is Mozart in the Requiem". Musicological details can be found at url.ie/fm8d. And Rattle's strong performance should help set musical minds buzzing. See url.ie/57cs