Martin Haselböck & Orchester Wiener Akademie

Program booklet for the event

Bruckner's symphonies in their original sound
Continuation

With Symphony No. 2 in C minor, which was completed (to a large extent) in St. Florian in September 1872, Anton Bruckner introduced himself as a symphonist in Vienna. However, its premiere by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on 26 October 1873, conducted by himself, was only a respectable success. The press response reflected the ambivalent attitude between fascination and irritation that was to become characteristic of contemporary Bruckner reception. Particular offence was caused by the numerous general pauses, which were used as a structuring element and became the undoing of the work, which is in itself "of great lyrical beauty, delicacy and transparency of structure", in the form of the unflattering nickname "Pause Symphony". After the Vienna Philharmonic failed to respond to his request in 1873, Bruckner planned to dedicate the 'Second' in 1884 "to the master Franz Liszt in the deepest reverence", but refrained from doing so after Liszt carelessly left behind the dedication copy of the score he had been given on his departure from Vienna.

The 'Second' is appropriately complemented by two second works by Liszt: the orchestral version of the popular Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in D minor and the Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, whose chequered history of composition and arrangement, spanning more than 30 years, can rival that of any Bruckner symphony.

The interpretation of the three works, whose ordinal number 2 signals a continuation in the three genres, is in the hands of Martin Haselböck and the Wiener Akademie Orchestra, who have recorded all of Liszt's orchestral works in their original sound and not only done pioneering work.