Bruckner Ballot

Anton Bruckner embarked on his studies with the Linz-based Kapellmeister Otto Kitzler in the fall of 1861 and it was Kitzler who put him in touch with the music of Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz, and Richard Wagner. In their lessons, they drew on Ernst Friedrich Richter’s primer Formenlehre but also the rather forward-looking textbook of Adolph Bernhard Marx’ and Johann Christian Lobe’s, which familiarized Bruckner with modern instrumentation that went well beyond the style of Viennese classicism.

When Anton Bruckner composed his Symphony No. 1 in 1865/66, he was employed as cathedral organist at Linz Cathedral. However, the premiere in 1868 was to be the only time for almost a quarter of a century that this work could be heard. After he had already completed seven more symphonies, he dealt again with the First at the request of the conductor Hans Richter, who wanted to perform the early work again, and revised it fundamentally. Rémy Ballot and the Altomonte Orchestra St. Florian present on this CD from the Priory Basilica of St. Florian this second, “Vienna version” of the First Symphony, which – as a new version – was premiered in 1891. In the usual coherent interpretation adapted to the unique acoustics of the church interior, this recording represents the conclusion of Bruckner’s symphonic canon with Rémy Ballot live from the Brucknertage Festival St. Florian.

This live recording brings together an extraordinary combination of artistic abundance: Remy Ballot conducting the music of Anton Bruckner, enacted at Bruckner’s place of work, the basilica of St. Florian in Upper Austria. Captured at the annual festival Brucknertage, the musical youth of the Upper Austrian Symphonic Youth Orchestra enjoyed the great honour to give a celebrated performance in a one-of-a-kind setting. The vigour and professionalism joined by the intuition of Ballot provide for some goosebumps and appends another worthy opus to a series which has been critically acclaimed and lavished with prestigious international awards.

Remy Ballot and the Altomonte Orchestra form a liaison with the extraordinary acoustics of the basilica virtually the Holy Spirit in this musical Trinity and transform the woe and sorrow of the bereaved as well as the ambiguity about what remains after one's death into heavenly spheres.