Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble & Trevor Pinnock - Bruckner: Symphonie No. 2 - The Sunday Times

Bruckner's Second Symphony in C minor (his second C minor symphony!), begun in London, is perhaps the least familiar in his canon. In the interests of dissemination, but mainly for musical reasons, the RAM sought from Anthony Payne a chamber version on the lines of those presented by Schoenberg's Society for Private Musical Performance in Vienna. Using a 20-strong ensemble, including the harmonium beloved of that society, Payne creates a beautiful pinpoint effect that illuminates Bruckner's argument and makes it seem even more productively spacious. Berg's transcription of Johann Strauss II's Wein, Weib und Gesang follows.