This is the second installment in Andris Nelsons’ recordings of the complete Bruckner symphonies. As with No. 3, Nelsons conducts a clear-headed, direct account, illuminating the sometimes-complex lines with an appealing logic. Leipzig’s Gewandhausorchester—no strangers to this music, having recorded cycles under Masur and Blomstedt—play gloriously with a fabulous ease and charm, particularly during the third movement. As with all parts in the series, a short piece by Bruckner’s hero Wagner makes an interesting companion—the Lohengrin Act 1 Prelude here glowing with an appropriately heavenly light.
- 2024
- Magdalena Kožená, Stuart Skelton, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra & Sir Simon Rattle
- Kurt Masur & London Philharmonic Orchestra
- Claudio Abbado & Lucerne Festival Orchestra
- Lisa Batiashvili, Chamber Orchestra of Europe & Yannick Nézet-Séguin
- Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra & Manfred Honeck
- Chamber Orchestra of Europe, RIAS Kammerchor & Yannick Nézet-Séguin
- Itzhak Perlman, Seiji Ozawa & Boston Symphony Orchestra