Bruckner Schalk

A CD containing Bruckner’s music for piano may come as something of a surprise, since you either need to know a lot about Bruckner, or conversely very little, to expect such a thing. Yet here it is, and very interesting it is too. Fumiko Shiraga plays very well, and her performances can be described as dedicated and thoroughly prepared. In addition the BIS recorded sound is as good as we have come to expect from this reliable company: full toned and atmospheric, with due attention to detail.

Bruckner's only major chamber work is given an enthusiastic reading by the Melos Quartet with the addition of Enrique Santiago on the extra viola part. The Quintet was written in 1879, during a tumultuous period in Bruckner's compositional career when he had just finished the final version of the Fifth Symphony, was about to produce the final version of the finale of the Fourth Symphony, and had just begun work on the Sixth Symphony. Most of the Quintet "sounds" like Bruckner, but there are several unusual features, and the fourth movement is one of the composer's finest.

Few record labels from the dawn of the LP era are recalled with more admiration and affection than Westminster Records – its first records from 1950 established Westminster as a pioneering source, exploring new and exciting corners of repertoire.

The most comprehensive Bruckner Symphonies cycle, including all available versions. “Since Beethoven, nothing has been written that even comes close!” The great conductor Arthur Nikisch made this remark to Bruckner’s former student, Joseph Schalk, while fellow conductor Hermann Levi described the piece as “the most significant symphonic work since Beethoven’s death.” Arthur Nikisch conducted the first performance in the Stadttheater, Leipzig, on 30 December 1884, with Bruckner in the audience. While the performance was not a total triumph, it brought a new and significant international recognition for the sixty-year-old composer. During Bruckner’s lifetime the Seventh, especially its Adagio, was his most popular symphony, and it remains among his most beloved and frequently performed works.