Robin Ticciati & DSO - Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 - BBC Radio 3 'Record Review'

Conductor Robin Ticciati joined the DSO just a couple of years ago and he's already recording one of the big beasts of the repertoire with them - Bruckner's Sixth Symphony. Ticciati also seems to have brought with him some of the qualities we used to hear in his performances with the SCO, an essential lightness, quickness of the response, clarity of texture, as well as a wide range of colour and timbre. All of which pay dividends here, especially in Bruckner's scherzo.

Did you see what I mean by the lightness of touch - It's strange saying that after a scherzo like that but it's as muscular as it should be but you're not crushed by the sheer weight of the sound it stays airborne even as the power generated as those brass fanfares takes your breath away. It's all helped by an airy recorded sound with loads of depth and dynamic range and the sense of flow carries into the fluidity of the opening of Bruckner's finale - the blaze of the climaxes offset by the way Ticciati caresses the lyrical moments in between. But the way that the strings sing in the slow movement set that up. An interesting Bruckner 6, certainly for anyone who sometimes finds his symphonies overweight and repetitive. This new one is on Linn Records.