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| 1. Introduction/Adagio/Allegro |
| 2. Adagio/Sehr langsam |
| 3. Scherzo/Molto vivace (schnell)/Trio/Im gleichen Tempo |
| 4. Finale/Adagio/Allegro moderato |
Modern live recordings can be just as plagued with balance problems and audience noise as older ones, but this one somehow manages to avoid these annoyances, conveying the spontaneity of this live event in clear, distortion-free sound.
The performance itself is remarkable. Sinopoli was always one to re-think standard repetoire, but he is never mannered or willful on this recording. Instead, he clearly communicates the structure of the symphony, and allows the listener to hear lines of counterpoint that would usually get buried under Bruckner's heavy textures.
The same could be said of the grand Statskapelle Dresden; conductor and orchestra together provide the requisite Brucknerian weight, but with a light enough touch that the orchestration sounds clear and unclotted.
In short, a true rarity: a performance that is technically and sonically impeccable, but also emotionally overwhelming. This 5th is revelatory and not to be missed.
This symphony highlights the hallmarks of Bruckner's symphonic style--the often grand pronouncements of the brass, mimicking the sounds of grand cathedral organs (Bruckner himself was a church organist); the shimmering string passages (redolent of the opening of the Beethoven Ninth), the vigorous scherzos, and the sometimes violent crescendos. Here, in this 1999 recording made by Deutsche Grammophon, the work is seemlessly performed, under the direction of the late Italian conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli, by the Dresden State Orchestra (Staatskapelle Dresden). The orchestra is one of the most qualified to handle Bruckner's massive symphonies, having recorded the complete set under Eugen Jochum between 1975 and 1982; and while Sinopoli may never have quite been able to reach Jochum's level with Bruckner, he still managed to achieve the best out of the orchestra and the symphony itself. The trombones and the tubas cleverly accentuate the organ-like passages of the score, and the rumbling timpani at the end of the first and fourth movements give the right sonic impact.
This is one of the best Bruckner recordings out there, and is highly recommended.
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