As with Markus Poschner’s cycle of the Bruckner symphonies for Capriccio, Gerd Schaller’s series of recordings for Profil aims to include all of the different versions of the symphonies. Schaller’s discography already includes the 1874 and 1878 80 versions of the Fourth Symphony but this is his first recording of the final version from 1888.

The history of the Fourth Symphony parallels that of the Third in that changes were made to its structure, orchestration and performance markings by some of Bruckner’s former students. Bruckner accepted some of these changes and rejected others during his own detailed revision of the score. Unlike the final version of the Third Symphony, however, which was the score of choice for Bruckner conductors such as Böhm, Jochum, Karajan and Wand, the final version of the Fourth was dismissed for many years as being inauthentic, largely as a result of Bruckner’s wishes being misunderstood. It is now known that both scores represent the composer’s final thoughts for the symphonies, even if there are some reasons to prefer the earlier versions.

Hearing Gerd Schaller’s new recording of the symphony makes discussions of versions and preferences seem almost redundant, however. From the wonderfully evocative account of the opening horn solo to the blazing final peroration, this is a performance of surpassing drive, poetry and splendour. I’m inclined to think it’s not only the finest recording of the 1888 version now available but one of the finest recordings of any version of the Fourth Symphony. Profil’s excellent recording, made live in the spacious acoustic of Ebrach Abbey, adds greatly to the listening experience. I have rarely heard the emergence of the pp tremolo violins at fig K in the first movement (8'48") from the reverberation of the preceding ff passage sound more magical. If I have a criticism, it’s that the orchestra, or perhaps the microphone placement necessitated by live recording, rarely gives us truly hushed playing. That minor qualification aside, this is an exceptional Bruckner recording, easily the best I’ve heard so far during the composer’s bicentenary year.