Unlike his previous recording of Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony with the Clevelanders, which was filmed in concert in St Florian in 2012 and released on DVD and Blu ray by ArtHaus, Franz Welser-Möst’s new account is audio-only and derives from concerts in the orchestra’s home city. The earlier recording enjoys playing of considerable sophistication and eloquence, and the production is both aurally and visually sumptuous. However, despite Welser-Möst’s undeniably impressive control of architecture and line, it’s a performance that always seems poised on the edge of greatness without quite achieving it.

The new recording brings a performance of the 1881 version of the symphony rather than the 1888 version Welser-Möst opted for previously, and features swifter tempos in the first two movements. In fact, the Andante is one of the fastest on record, but the performance of the movement is rich in mystery and atmosphere, aided by a particularly effective contribution from the timpani. One almost expects to hear Fafner emerge from the musical shadows. The audio quality is also of a very good standard. As before, however, the performance impresses without conveying the majesty and depth that I find in the recent recordings of the symphony by Thielemann (Profil, 8/17) and Dausgaard (BIS, 8/23).

The Korstvedt edition used here is the most recent publication of the symphony’s second version (also known as the 1878 80 version) by the International Bruckner Society and supersedes the Nowak edition of the 1950s, which itself replaced the Haas edition of the 1930s. As with the Haas edition, Korstvedt’s primary source is the score as it stood after the first performance of the symphony in 1881. The new edition corrects some minor errors in previous editions but is not a reason to investigate the new recording.