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Best Sounding Bruckner Recordings

There is a Mahler for Audiophiles thread here, but I am not sure if there is one for Bruckner.  IMO these are the two Composers that benefit the most from high quality sound.  Both Composers relied extensively upon spatial effects.  Bruckner, with his Organist background, was conscious of reverberation effects, and tended to treat the entire Orchestra as one vast Organ.  Mahler had many spatial effects built into his Symphonies.
  I listen to many historical recordings, but I find that these two composers suffer the most when sonically compromised.  I have no problem enjoying a Toscanini Beethoven Symphony, as the majesty of the music and the playing overcome sonic limitations.  However, listening to the Horenstein Bruckner Seventh from 1927 is a real trial.  Even the best restorations make it sound like it was recorded in a phone booth, and the towering beauty of the piece is missing.
  Now, with Bruckner, we have the problem of all of those multiple editions.  I am going to confess straight out that I have no expertise here .  And given that this is an audiophile site, I will concede readily that the best sounding Bruckner recordings may not necessarily be the ultimate in recorded performance.  However, I am looking for comments about great sounding Bruckner recordings that are also good performances 
mahler123
mahler123 OP
3,362 posts
 
I am not sure that I know the Barenboim Berlin Seventh.  Is that with DBs Berlin Orchestra, the Staatkapelle, or with the Berliner Philharmoniker?  I have the DB/Staatkapelle Fourth on Blu Ray, impressive though sonically a bit of a let down
newbee
4,767 posts
 
Try listening to Jesus Lopez-Cobos with the Cincinnati SO on Telarc. This is one BIG version. You might just like it. :-) FWIW I'm currently listening to Guilini's version as I type. Beautiful...
gs5556
1,235 posts
 
My initial recommendations would be:

Symphony No. 9: Honeck, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (Reference Recordings). This is a very good performance in excellent sound. Not only that, but in the liner notes Honeck breaks down the score bar by bar with the time stamp and explains what he's asking the orchestra to do and why. His Symphony No. 4 is also good in terms of performance with the same excellent sound and detailed liner notes.

Symphony No. 8: Boulez, Wiener Philharmoniker (DG): Great performance in excellent sound.

Symphony No. 7: Runnicles, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Hyperion): This is IMO the best tempo along with an excellent performance and sound. The opening cello sequence is unsurpassed.

Symphony No. 6: Sawallisch, Bayerisches Staatsorchester (Orfeo Digital): Excellent performance -- the drive of the music is perfect. Sound is good, not spectacular, but good as the sheer dynamics of the music more than makes up for it.

Symphony No. 5: Bolton, Mozarteum Orchester (Oehms Classics): Great performance, great sound

Symphony No. 4: Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker (DG; 9-20-2004 release): Simply outstanding and powerful.

Symphony No. 3: Nelsons, Gewandhausorchester (DG): Excellent performance, even better sonics.

Symphony No.2: Not impressed with the lot but the chamber version by Trevor Pinnock (Linn Records) has excellent sonics -- and the performance is very good.

Symphony No. 1: Barenboim, Berlin Philharmonic (DG box set). 

There are many many others that I like...


jtuba
25 posts
 
https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2019/7/29/qlazyfliteq0o7f7704oof8vqv3l0p
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
@mahler123, I hear what you are saying with respect to Bruckner suffering from bad recordings.  I too, can listen to Toscanini recordings of Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, etc all day long.
I'm going to go out on a very long limb here, and no doubt loose whatever credibility I may have previously had regarding classical music. 
For years, my go to Bruckner conductor was Eugen Jochum/Dresden.  I still enjoy an occasional listen.   But I have really found myself drawn to the more recent Venzago cycle on CPO. As I listen to those recordings, I hear the influence of Schubert.  I don't hear Bruckner as a Wagner (or Mahler) wannabe.  Venzago's cycle has not, to my knowledge, been well received.  But I would be interested in what you might think of his efforts.  In my humble opinion, he brings something worthwhile, especially to the early (0-3) symphonies, which many times can be a bit of a snooze fest. 
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