Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 / Wagner: Lohengrin – Prelude to Act 1 (Live)

Andris Nelsons’ latest release with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, featuring Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 and the Prelude to Act 1 from Wagner’s Lohengrin, was recorded live in concert and is the second installment in a multi-album Bruckner series on the Deutsche Grammophon label. It is scheduled for release on February 16, 2018.

Awarded MusicWeb International’s Recording of the Year 2018

„The finale can fragment under direction which is too impulsive or erratic but Nelsons maintains a long view, keeping his powder dry for the drive toward final apotheosis without ever sacrificing tension. The great waves and lulls in the music come and go, and the listener is uniformly gripped throughout by Nelsons’ ability to link one section to another. The concluding three minutes of the final movement constitute one of the most thrilling and glorious passages in all Bruckner; Nelsons triumphantly unveils its mystery and power, building inexorably with a sure touch and a mounting sense of the numinous.

This is undoubtedly one of the best accounts of this symphony ever recorded and certainly the finest of recent years.“

-Ralph Moore, MusicWeb International