Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major (Nowak 1954)

Recorded live at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam on 23 and 25 December 2012, this performance captures the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in repertoire that runs deep in its history.

Since the years of chief conductor Eduard van Beinum from 1945 to 1959, the orchestra has held one of the great Bruckner traditions. During his time with the orchestra from 2004 to 2015, the late Mariss Jansons added another remarkable chapter.

For Jansons, the refinement in Bruckner always mattered more than grandiloquence. He built on the orchestra’s tradition with close attention to detail, bringing warmth, pulse and real feeling to the rhythms.

This reading of Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony shows that balance beautifully: intimate, energetic and full of life. It is the symphony that brought the composer his international breakthrough, and it still speaks directly to audiences now.