BRUCKNER 5 AT THE PROMS
Podcast
Anton Bruckner was born 200 years ago on the 4th of September 1824, in the village of Ansfelden, not far from Linz,in Upper Austria.
The BBC Proms Festival couldn’t have ignored this jubilee and scheduled a number of concerts with Bruckner symphonies. We’ve already had Bruckner’s Symphony No.1 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, led by Paavo Järvi. On Sunday 1st of September the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra led by Kirill Petrenko visits the Royal Albert Hall to perform three of Bruckner’s best loved motets and the formidable Fifth Symphony. Thursday 5 September it’s the turn of Simon Rattle with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra to present Bruckner’s Symphony No.4, the so called ‘Romantic’.
I this podcast I speak to the German conductors Johannes Fritzsch and Markus Poschner about Bruckner’s obsessive compulsive disorder and the Fifth. Fritzsch studied in Dresden in the 1970s and 80s and was fortunate enough to hear the great Eugen Jochum with the Staatskapelle Dresden conduct quite a few Bruckner symphonies.
Poschner has recorded all 19 different versions of Bruckner’s eleven symphonies with his own ensemble, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna.
Bruckner was very awkward around women and never found a partner (not helped by the fact that he preferred women that were much younger than him). But he did have friends, supporters and students that helped him and promoted his works. Bruckner did like to have a few beers in a Brauhaus or Wirtshaus and clearly enjoyed listening to dance music. Particularly the Polka, the Bohemian dance craze of the late 19th century. That’s why you can find polkas in most Bruckner symphonies. To find out more, listen to my podcast.
Prom 56 Sunday 1 September Berliner Philharmoniker, Kirill Petrenko
