Georg Tintner’s generally excellent survey of the complete Bruckner symphonies for Naxos reaches a peak with this exceptional performance of the Seventh. What makes Tintner such a wonderful Bruckner conductor is his unerring ability to set a naturally flowing tempo for each of Bruckner’s thematic complexes. The result, in the first movement, is richly contrasted, but never eccentric or disruptive of Bruckner’s musical architecture. Tintner’s flexibility gives the opening a genuinely powerful sense of momentum that makes the following slow movement sound all the more inevitable. Too often, this symphony sounds like two slow movements followed by two quick ones, despite the “Allegro moderato” marking on the very first page. Tintner also disciplines the RSNO’s brilliant brass section so that they produce a glowing sonority that never sounds forced or harsh. Add to these several pluses a splendidly rich recording, and the result is as fine a Seventh as you’re likely to hear—and a steal at budget price.
