This Bruckner Sixth always has been the “sleeper” among recorded performances of the work, one of the great ones, yet surprisingly little known. It also presents the Vienna Philharmonic (of 1974) in peak form, almost ideally recorded (save for some mushiness in the timpani). The brass, so critical to an idiomatic Bruckner sonority, are particularly well differentiated, with horns on the left, trumpets and trombones on the right. The result is unprecedented clarity of those staggered entries that Bruckner is so famous for, and this makes passages such as the first movement’s recapitulation and coda particularly thrilling. Toss in typically warm string playing, rich and thrilling in the Adagio, and Stein’s absolutely perfect pacing of the entire work, with a particularly gossamer scherzo and masterfully shaped finale, and we have a real winner here. If you love Bruckner, particularly as played by the Viennese, you are simply going to adore this. The two Weber overtures make a lovely, apt bonus, and they are equally well done.
