Concert Review: Climbing Twin Peaks

The Carnegie Hall Bruckner cycle reaches its climax.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Your guide to Bruckner: Daniel Barenboim.
Photo by Paul Schimhofer © 2017 Deutsche Grammophon/UMG

This week, Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin are wrapping up their epic cycle of nine Bruckner symphonies at Carnegie Hall. Friday's concert featured the Symphony No. 7 paired with Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in E Flat Major. Saturday featured No. 8 all by itself: the longest work in the Bruckner catalogue and the most demanding of the listener's sense of faith: in both Bruckner himself and the ability to build enormous bridges of sound bulwarked by harmony and counterpoint.

Concert Review: The Philosopher's Stone

Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Bruckner (left) and his critics, Eduard Hanslick, Max Kalbeck and Richard Heuberge.

At the end of its first week, the ongoing Carnegie Hall Bruckner marathon has moved into familiar territory this week, leaving behind the obscure early symphonies for works which, while not programmed with great frequency nonetheless show up regularly in the repertory of large symphony orchestras. Here it was the turn of the Symphony No. 6 (nicknamed "The Philosopher"), paired with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 22, a genuine crowd-pleaser.

Concert Review: Controversy and Counterpoint

The Bruckner odyssey continues with Symphony No. 5
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The Bruckner-Orgel in St. Florian, Linz, Austria, where composer Anton Bruckner was chief organist.
It is also his final resting place. Photo by Greg Kraftschik for Wikipedia.

What's going at Carnegie Hall this week is historic. Not only is this nine concert marathon of Bruckner's published symphonies (in order) the first of its kind at that historic institution, but this is the first so-called Bruckner cycle in the history of the United States. On Tuesday night. Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin reached the midway point of their odyssey with the Symphony No. 5.

Concert Review: Silenced No More

The Carnegie Hall Brucknerthon continues with the Fourth.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Quiet please: Daniel Barenboim leads the unquiet symphonies of Anton Bruckner at Carnegie Hall.
Photo © 2012 The BBC Proms courtesy Warner Brothers Classics.

Some composers take longer to find success than others. Consider if you will the case of one Joseph Anton Bruckner, whose remarkable odyssey from humble monastery organist to world-beating symphonist remains one of the most endearing and bizarre music stories from 19th century Austria. On Monday night, Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin played the fourth concert in their nine-part voyage through Bruckner's symphonic output at Carnegie Hall, with a roof-raising performance of the Symphony No. 4.

Concert Review: The Master's Singer

Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin play Mozart and Bruckner.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Richard Wagner (left) greets Anton Bruckner in Bayreuth in 1873.
Silhouette by Dr. Otto Böhler from Wikipedia Commons.

The nine-concert Carnegie Hall marathon featuring conductor Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin reached its first milestone on Saturday night. This concert, the third in the series and the last of the opening triptych featured Mr. Barenboim leading his forces in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24, paired with the Symphony No. 3 of Anton Bruckner. This symphony bears the nickname "Wagner." It was one of two works that Bruckner brought to Bayreuth on an 1873 visit, where he and Richard Wagner discussed music over many a pint of beer.

Concert Review: Voices in the Wilderness

The Staatskapelle Berlin takes on the Bruckner Second. 

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Leading from the piano: Daniel Barenboim. Photo © 2017 Staatskapelle Berlin.

When he was 14 years old, the conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim made his Carnegie Hall debut on January 20, 1957,  playing the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Symphony of the Air under the baton of the legendary Leopold Stokowski. Last night, Mr. Barenboim, now 74, celebrated the 60th anniversary of that occasion with the Staatskapelle Berlin, bringing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 and Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 2 to that hallowed stage.

Concert Review: The End is the Beginning

The Bruckner marathon begins at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin Staatskapelle.
Photo © 2016 by Chris Christodolou.

One might argue that it is difficult to break new ground in classical music, but inventive conductors somehow find a way. On Thursday night, conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim opened the first complete cycle of Bruckner symphonies in the history of Carnegie Hall, with that composer's Symphony No. 1 paired with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27.