Münchner Philharmoniker & Valery Gergiev - Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (Live) (2019) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

The Münchner Philharmoniker have arguably given more performances of Anton Bruckner’s music than any other orchestra. A great number of Bruckner recordings led by the many legendary conductors that have worked for and with the Münchner Philharmoniker are stored in the historical archive of the MPHIL Label including magnificent pieces with Sergiu Celibidache, Christian Thielemann, Rudolf Kempe, Günter Wand and Oswald Kabasta.

Having started in September 2017 at the Monastery of St. Florian, a setting with unique historical significance in this context, the Münchner Philharmoniker and Valery Gergiev present a most spectacular cycle of Anton Bruckner’s symphonies. All performances take place at the Monastery of St. Florian near Linz, a venue inextricably linked to the composer and his final resting place. The cycle was continued this past September 2018 and shall be completed in September 2019. All symphony recordings will be made available on the orchestra’s very own label MPHIL by 2020/2021.

In spring 2019 the Münchner Philharmoniker make live recordings at St. Florian of Bruckner’s Symphonies No. 2, 8 and 9 available to audiences around the world. In his Ninth Symphony - his final contribution to the medium - Bruckner took stock of his life, which he was able to do only on the basis of his unshakeable faith. But he was unable to finish the score and died while working on its final movement. Its three completed movements lead us into a world that constitutes a quest for answers to life’s ultimate questions, while the Scherzo introduces us to a scene of demonic terrors, the Adagio to a universe of sound which, after the earlier struggles and doubts, ushers in a mood of peaceful valediction.

Tracklist:
1. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, WAB 109: I. Feierlich - Misterioso (Live) (25:37)
2. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, WAB 109: II. Scherzo. Bewegt, lebhaft (Live) (11:34)
3. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, WAB 109: III. Adagio. Langsam, feierlich (Live) (25:29)

Personnel:
Münchner Philharmoniker
Valery Gergiev, conductor