Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 - Wagner: Lohengrin Prelude (Live)

This is the second instalment in Andris Nelsons’ recordings of the complete Bruckner symphonies. As with No. 3, Nelsons conducts a clear-headed, direct account, illuminating the sometimes-complex lines with an appealing logic. Leipzig’s Gewandhausorchester—no strangers to this music, having recorded cycles under Masur and Blomstedt—play gloriously with a fabulous ease and charm, particularly during the third movement. As with all parts in the series, a short piece by Bruckner’s hero Wagner makes an interesting companion—the Lohengrin Act 1 Prelude here glowing with an appropriately heavenly light.