Martin Haselböck & Orchester Wiener Akademie

Anton Bruckner introduced himself as a symphonist in Vienna with his Symphony No. 2 in C minor, which was (largely) completed in St. Florian in September 1872. However, its premiere by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on 26 October 1873, conducted by Bruckner himself, was only a respectable success. The press response reflected the ambivalent attitude between fascination and irritation that was to characterise Bruckner's reception at the time. The numerous general pauses, which were used as a structuring element and became the undoing of the work, which in itself "is of great lyrical beauty, delicacy and transparency of structure", in the form of the unflattering nickname "Pausen-Sinfonie". After the Vienna Philharmonic left his request unanswered in 1873, Bruckner planned to dedicate the 'Second' "To the master Franz Liszt in the most heartfelt veneration" in 1884, but refrained from doing so after Liszt carelessly left behind the dedication copy of the score he had given him on his departure from Vienna.

The 'Second' is appropriately accompanied 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 rivals that of any Bruckner symphony.

The interpretation of the three works, whose ordinal number 2 signals a continuation and 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 have not only done pioneering work with this, but have also added star pianist Kit Armstrong as soloist in the piano concerto, who is adept at handling both historical and modern grand pianos.

Programme:
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2 in D minor, p. 359, No. 2 (1847, 1857-60)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in A major, p. 125 (1830-39, rev. ed. 1849, 1853, 1857, 1861)