SOMM Recordings is delighted to release Volume 4 in its “major commemorative series” (ConcertoNet.com) Bruckner from the Archives. Many of the expertly restored and remastered recordings, like this performance of the Fifth Symphony, are appearing for the first time in any form.

Conceived and designed by SOMM Executive Producer and acclaimed audio restoration engineer Lani Spahr with support from the Bruckner Society of America, Bruckner from the Archives celebrates the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth in 1824 with rare archival recordings of the 11 symphonies and selected other important works. These have been sourced by Lani Spahr from the more than 12,000 Bruckner performances in the archive of John F. Berky, Executive Secretary of the Bruckner Society of America, who also acts as consultant for this important series.

This fourth instalment offers the first ever release of a live radio broadcast of Bruckner’s Symphony no.5 by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnányi (1963) and a debut CD release of the String Quintet and its alternate movement, the Intermezzo, by the Vienna Konzerthaus Quartet joined by violist Ferdinand Stangler (1956).

These rare interpretations of Bruckner masterworks offer a new perspective on the music and its genesis in the context of Bruckner’s life and compositional development, accompanied by the very latest in scholarship from Professor Benjamin Korstvedt, President of the Bruckner Society of America and member of the Editorial Board of the New Anton Bruckner Complete Edition.

Prof. Korstvedt cites this recording of the Fifth, led by a young Christoph von Dohnányi then in the early stages of his legendary career, as a fine example of the new, more objective approach to Bruckner performance favoured among the postwar generation.

The early days of the LP bring us this recording of the Quintet by the string quartet in residence at the Vienna Konzerthaus, who along with their guest violist were members of the Vienna Philharmonic. The playing – vividly remastered – is a window onto a lost era, with its portamentos, lyrical intensity, romantic tempos and phrasing epitomising a distinctly Viennese tradition that invests the music with a sincerity of sentiment and a depth of mood that is both rare and striking.

Lani Spahr’s previous SOMM releases include the lauded four-volume sets Vaughan Williams Live (ARIADNE 5016, 5018–20) and Elgar Remastered (SOMMCD 261-4), as well as two Gramophone Editor’s Choice picks: Elgar from America Vol.3 (ARIADNE 5015-2) for “superb audio restorations [bringing] performances fully to life” and Bruckner from the Archives Vol.1 (ARIADNE 5025-2) for the “high standards achieved here, where expert audio restoration and remastering is by Lani Spahr”.

“We look forward to the next editions in the series; to further uplifting recordings and to new light, shed on a composer we thought we knew.” – The Quarterly Review: Endnotes, May 2024

“This is an auspicious launch of what promises to be a Bruckner series of uncommon interest.” – John Quinn, Music Web International