Solid Core Repertoire

As far as solid core repertoire is concerned, you can't get much more rock solid than this; Bruckner Symphony No 9 by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta. Although having said that, when this recording was made back in 1965, Bruckner wasn't yet the staple he has since become both on disk and in concert. The ninth symphony was his final symphony and was unfinished at the time of his death, with a fourth movement apparently planned. However, what there is of the symphony is substantial enough, three movements lasting over an hour and the third seems to bring about a sense of completeness and reconciliation that might even have become distorted should Bruckner have completed the fourth. He was after all notorious for continually revising his work. There is that massive feel to the work typical of Bruckner, it almost comes as a shock when he manages to produce a reasonably brisk scherzo. Dedicated to God, the symphony makes a fitting end to a sometimes troubled life. As ever, it is ironic to hear the Vienna band in Bruckner given the history of their treatment of him on several occasions at the time. The committment shown here is some kind of payback.