Robin Ticciati & DSO - Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 - All Music

The recordings made prior to this by conductor Robin Ticciati with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin involved French music, but here he plunges into core Austro-Germanic repertory with Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 in A minor. It's a gutsy choice, for the Sixth is in the bottom tier for performance among Bruckner's nine numbered symphonies. It has some rather un-Brucknerian features: the Scherzo clocks in at a mere seven and a half minutes, and even the outer movements are short by Brucknerian standards. The work, unusually, quotes Bruckner's Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, and the finale has an uncomplicatedly triumphant tone in spots. Ticciati makes a fine argument for the work. You might feel that his opening movement, more than two minutes shorter than that of Bernard Haitink and the Sinfonie-Orchester des bayerischen Rundfunks, does not correspond to Bruckner's Majestoso tempo marking, but such things are subjective, and Ticciati achieves a clear reading with plenty of forward motion. The brief Scherzo has a sense of mystery that is resolved in the big finale, with splendid brass work from the orchestra. Ticciati's label, Linn, gets fine results from the Berlin Philharmonie, and all in all, this recording suggests that the new rather young conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin is headed for fine things.