Walter conducts Bruckner's Ninth
Bruno Walter conducts Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York in Pristine’s new release, preserving the live Carnegie Hall broadcast of 17 March 1946. This is an opportunity to encounter a familiar masterpiece at a time when its standing was far from secure. New York critics had sharply disagreed over the same musicians’ performance three days earlier, praising the conductor’s commitment while reaching very different conclusions about the symphony itself. The Sunday broadcast preserves the musical evidence of that advocacy, rather than simply its reputation.
For listeners who know Walter’s celebrated 1959 studio account, this earlier performance offers a revealing comparison: a swifter overall conception combined with considerable freedom within individual phrases. The relationship between forward movement and expressive breadth makes it particularly rewarding to compare the two interpretations. Andrew Rose’s new XR remastering treats the broadcast’s surface noise, while the original radio introduction and conclusion remain as separate tracks. The interruption for latecomers between the first and second movements has been removed. Together, the performance and its retained announcements offer both a distinctive reading of Bruckner’s unfinished Ninth Symphony and a document of its life on the concert platform in 1946.
This week we celebrate Franz Liszt’s 215th birthday, which fell on 22 October 2026. His music offers ample reason to look beyond the familiar image of the virtuoso pianist: the catalogue encompasses the reflective world of Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, the journeys of Années de pèlerinage, operatic transcriptions and orchestral works such as Les Préludes. These different settings invite attention to the breadth of his musical imagination, alongside the technical brilliance associated with his name. A 15% automatic discount applies to all our Liszt recordings; the offer runs from 23-29 October.
