Search - Anton Bruckner, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra :: Bruckner: Symphony No. 5

One of the Two Greatest Bruckner Performances on Record

Ralph J. Steinberg | New York, NY United States | 03/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This performance has received the highest accolades, so I won't go into any great details, other than to say that Furtwangler achieves a dramatic tension in this work that should silence all critics of Bruckner as a formless, disorganized spinner of notes. It also casts a new light on the conductor; far from being what might call a "romantic," Furtwangler's attention to line and structure, despite his characteristic tempo flexibility, really puts him more in the "classical" camp.

The big news here is Opus Kura's sound. I am fast regarding this label as the finest historical label ever conceived. Comparing this issue to the Deutsche Grammophon, the Opus Kura reveals ever so much more richness and detail. It speaks volumes for the sheer integrity of a company to simply issue a recording without any of the sound processing or filtering that has damaged the work of other companies. Integrity: Perhaps that is the watchword here. Integrity, simple musicality, that is the characteristic of Opus Kura. By the way, I recommend that this, as well as other Opus Kura CD's, be played on the best wide-range equipment, in order to truly hear the wonderful clarification of detail that this company achieves."