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Bruckner2024

BRUCKNER2024 is a large-scale project since 2011 by the conductor Gerd Schaller with the aim of performing all symphonies of Anton Bruckner in all versions on the concert stage and recording them on CD. Gerd Schaller is the first conductor who has started to record all of Bruckner's symphonies in all versions on CD. The Project also includes not only all symphonies in all versions but also the intermediate variants. Project partners are the festival Ebracher Musiksommer, the Bavarian Radio – Studio Franken and the CD label Profil Edition Günter Hänssler. Over 20 CDs have already been released.

Anton Bruckner created true cathedrals of sound with his wonderfully emotional but at the same time highly complex music. But like no other composer, he repeatedly fine-tuned nearly all of his works, especially the symphonies, constantly striving for the ideal form and making changes. Therefore, there are different variants or versions of his symphonies existing, which Gerd Schaller and his orchestra, the Philharmonie Festiva, now are recording in their own artistic handwriting within the framework of BRUCKNER2024. The very possibility of being able to compare these different versions directly, interpreted by one and the same orchestra and conductor is intended to help listeners to even better understand the fascinating and multifaceted musical personality of Anton Bruckner.

The basis for this is Gerd Schaller's internationally acclaimed Bruckner cycle, in which several symphonies are already available in different versions on CD, but also the first oratorical and organ works have been published. The recordings of the still missing variants of the symphonies and the other works will be realised in the coming years and will be released on the label Profil Edition Günter Hänssler.

The editions used take into account the current state of musicology. However, this is not enough for Gerd Schaller. And so it is a major concern of his not to neglect the important findings of previous generations of editors. In some cases, he even includes the first printed editions of Bruckner's works, which also convey information that is important in terms of performance history and is worthy of tradition. As world premiere recordings, he has also recorded a number of intermediate versions in the editions of William Carragan. Most important for Gerd Schaller, however, is one's own critical research and dealing with the respective autograph. This led to the fact that he even created his own editions of several versions. Gerd Schaller would like to present the symphonies in editions that are not only based on knowledge that is currently favored and may already be outdated in a few years. Rather, he strives for a timeless overall view of all symphonies that are based on musicology and that are as timeless as possible. important performance-historical aspects are also taken into account.

GERD SCHALLER

In 2007 Gerd Schaller started his Bruckner cycle with the Philharmonie Festiva, from which the BRUCKNER2024 project emerged in 2021.

Philharmonie Festiva

Philharmonie Festiv

Philharmonie Festiva is a symphony orchestra consisting of selected, high-calibre musicians from leading German orchestras.

Concerts

Experience more Bruckner concerts at the Ebrach Summer Music Festival www.ebracher-musiksommer.de

BRUCKNER2024 ON CD

20 CDs have already been released as part of BRUCKNER2024, combined in a CD box, which will be available in a revised form from February 2022.

SOUND IMPRESSION

The acoustics in the former Cistercian abbey church in Ebrach are ideal for the performance of Anton Bruckner's symphonies. Among other things, the elaborate stucco and the early classical choir stalls are responsible for the fact that the sound is broken again and again and does not overturn. The proportions of this impressive cathedral room also ensure a special sound refinement. The excerpt from a concert in which the 5th Symphony by Anton Bruckner with Gerd Schaller and the Philharmonie Festiva was performed gives an impression of this.

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