Claudio Abbado & Lucerne Festival Orchestra – Bruckner Symphony No. 1

“Abbado uncovered the radical nature of the work with its fascinating accumulations of intensity and abrupt interruptions … Long and enthusiastic standing ovations at the end for the conductor and orchestra.” Die Welt

“It is enchanting the way Abbado succeeds in revealing the Janus-faced character of the symphony … very pointed but highly elegant, in typical Abbado fashion, the pulsating, forward moving rhythms of the first movement, and truly dramatic the build-up to the first climax – these set the parameters of this interpretation. The wonderful Adagio proceeded in a tremulous yet warm cantabile, while the energetic Scherzo, with its introverted Trio, mirrored the relationship of the two earlier movements. The Finale, then, is an almost volcanic explosion …” NZZ

“Listening and marvelling is really the only option.”     Gramophone