Search - Bruckner, Bernard Haitink, Concertgebouw Orchestra :: Bruckner Symphony No. 9 (Haitink)

The Best Bruckner 9

R. Williams | Los Angeles, CA United States | 11/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As much as I like a lot of Bruckner's other symphonies, particularly 7 and 8, to me, 9 towers over them, even though it is an unfinished work. In some ways, it works better as an unfinished work because it is going full force into the abyss of slience, and lacking only a final movement, it leaves you satisfied and yet not finished with it. The driving scherzo echoes in your mind after. Despite a lot of pyrotechnics, this is also a work of great nuance and lyricism.



Certain works Haitink is just fantastic with. His Shostakovich 8 (even darker than this piece) is still my favorite by far. In the case of this piece, it's also the case that I have found no other versions that come close to this one. It balances the ferocity and eerie inevitability of the piece beautifully. If you can find it, this is the one to have."