• Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1
• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Yes
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ Unrated (Not Rated)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.47 x 0.71 x 7.6 inches; 4.3 Ounces
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ French, English, German
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ France
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Günter Wand was a middle-class, Catholic Rhinelander whose musical enthusiasm, talent and ambition were obvious from a young age.

In the early 1980s, Wand became principal conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg and principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He was not especially well known in London in the early days, but the BBC concerts, especially at the Proms, soon acquired legendary status as, in his eight and decades, Gunter Wand finally won the acclamation his technical brilliance and profound musicality had always merited.

This concert inaugurated the final week of the 1990 Proms. At that time, Wand was 78 years old and he had belatedly been recognized as one of the great conductors of the world. His approach to tempi was deceptively simple. He did employ rubato at times, but it was carefully controlled and he always adhered to the principle that each of Bruckner's symphonic movements had one basic pulse. Striking here are his complete lack of overt showmanship and his delicate economy of gesture.

At the forefront of Bruckner interpreters, Günter Wand developed a performing style for the symphonies that may be regarded as sufficiently exacting for the sake of structure, yet expansive enough to communicate the deep spirituality that is essential to the music. The Symphony No. 5 in B flat major is one of Bruckner's most moving documents, and the expressions Wand and the Munich Philharmonic brought out in this live 1995 performance of the Haas edition are almost perfectly attuned to the intensity and monumentality of the piece. But just as importantly, the symphony coheres better here than in many other renditions because Wand and the orchestra maintained a transparent form, avoided expressive exaggerations, and kept up momentum by minimizing the numerous breaks and pauses. Bruckner's chronic starts and stops are prominent in this work, because he took pains to mark off each of his themes and motives clearly, in preparation for the overpowering fugue in the Finale, the ultimate goal. Anyone first hearing this work will immediately grasp the fugue's subjects and feel gratified when the loose strands are brought together at last. However, getting through the first three movements takes roughly 50 minutes, so Wand's firm control of the piece's pacing and overall trajectory is critical not only to understanding Bruckner's methods of exposition and development, but also to appreciating the symphony's ecstatic payoff at the end. Though hard to absorb in one sitting, Wand made the Fifth relatively easy to follow, and convincingly articulated the work's formal design without sacrificing any of its grandeur. The audio reproduction is terrific in all four movements, but it is especially resonant in the awe-inspiring entrance of the offstage brass in the concluding Chorale.

Tracklist:

• 1. Introduction: Adagio - Allegro
• 2. Adagio: Sehr langsam
• 3. Scherzo: Molto vivace, schnell - Trio
• 4. Finale: Adagio - Allegro moderato