Review by JohnProffitt September 18, 2013 (14 of 14 found this review helpful)
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Herbert Blomstedt and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra have a unique partnership in regard to the Bruckner symphonies. Over a period of slightly less than seven years – July 2005 through March 2012 – they assembled their integral set of the traditional nine symphonies from public concerts given in the Gewandhaus concert hall in Leipzig, Germany. All were recorded in high-resolution surround sound by one engineer, Evelyn Rühlemann, in partnership with MDR, the Leipzig-based radio network, and released as an SACD set on Querstand in 2013.
One appreciates both the excellence of the recordings and the attentive quiet of the Gewandhaus audiences in that the listener is rarely aware that these are "live" recordings rather than studio productions. This consistency over the years provided a high level of quality control to the Bruckner symphony project. In addition, this reviewer offers his opinion that Blomstedt's reading of each symphony is mainstream, in that interpretational choices – tempo, phrasing, dynamics, etc – fall within the broad consensus of the received Bruckner tradition. All of the above factors, coupled with Maestro Blomstedt's consistently inspired leadership and the sui generis playing of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, make the Querstand SACDs one of the acknowledged treasures of the Bruckner discography: a Bruckner symphony set of the very highest quality, well deserving of the award Best Audio Recording 2013 from the Bruckner Society of America.


My personal (and only!) regret is that Blomstedt chose not to include the Symphony in D Minor, Die Nullte, in his integral set.
The public performance dates of each symphony in the Querstand set are as follows: 8 - July 2005; 7 - November 2006; 6 - September 2008; 5 - May 2010; 3 - September 2010; 4 - October 2010; 1 - June 2011; 9 - November 2011; and 2 - March 2012.
Performance editions of the symphonies are as follows: 1 - Nowak, "Linz Version 1866"; 2 - Carragan, "First Concept 1872"; 3 - Nowak 1873; 4 - Nowak 1878/80; 5 - Nowak 1878; 6 - Nowak 1881; 7 - Haas 1885 (no percussion in the Adagio); 8 - Robert Haas composite 1887/90; 9 - Cohrs 1894
John Proffitt Board Member, Bruckner Society of America Houston
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