The premiere of the first version of Anton Bruckner’s 3rd Symphony, which has been forgotten for over a hundred years and is still very under-rated, in St Florian (Bruckner’s home and last resting place) by the Altomonte Orchestra conducted by Rémy Ballot on the occasion of the Bruckner Festival in 2013 found the best possible resonance on the part of the audience and critics.

The magic of this incomparable concert event – manifested in the tempi adapted to the uniquely authentic acoustics, the ‘Bruckner pulse’ as it were, the courage calmly and with relish to perform again and again Bruckner’s mantras or prayer-wheel-like ‘psychedelic’ repetitions, which were sadly ‘shortened’ and deleted in the later versions by Bruckner himself and the Schalk brothers, and the courage to play the silence of the composed pauses (i.e. silence as the sublime form of music) – can be experienced in this unique recording.

The Altomonte Orchestra in St Florian was founded in 1996 by Augustinus Franz Kropfreiter (1936–2003) and Thomas Wall (solo cellist, orchestra director). The name of the orchestra refers to the Baroque painters Martino and Bartholomeo Altomonte, the creators of the frescos of the magnificent halls in St Florian’s Priory. A musical range from the Baroque to contemporary music, cultivation of musical tradition and church music in St Florian, and especially the promotion of young musicians, define the central tasks under the principal conductor, Matthias Giesen.

For the major international festival orchestra of the Bruckner Festival in St Florian, in 2013 it was expanded by musicians from 12 countries in order to perform the St Florian premiere of the first version after 140 years in the Priory Basilica with Rémy Ballot (after only four rehearsals).

Rémy Ballot was born in Paris, where he studied violin, conducting, music theory and music education and completed his studies with the diploma of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. In addition, he received lessons from Maestro Sergiù Celibidache and founded his own orchestra at the age of 18. He has lived in Vienna since 2004 and appears as a conductor throughout Europe. A special relationship associates him with the Bruckner Festival in St Florian. In 2011, he held his debut with the 4th Symphony, and in 2013 he conducted the Altomonte Orchestra in this local premiere of the original version of the 3rd Symphony ‘live for Anton Bruckner’.