Conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin has firmly established himself as one of the rising stars among Canadian classical artists; only late last year he was named music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, to succeed the venerable Valery Gergiev, and he was recently named principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In this jet-set world, how one finds time to move from Montreal to Rotterdam, London and elsewhere, and still find time along with live performances with multiple orchestras to record, I’ll never know. He has, however, given us this magnificent Bruckner 7th, recorded in the the marvelous acoustic of the Montreal’s Eglise Saint-Nom-de-Jesus, and in superb multichannel surround. This disc is definitely on my best-of list for 2007.
Most would probably pick the two complete Bruckner cycles by the great Eugen Jochum as the benchmark to compare this recording to, regardless of whether your preferences lean toward his EMI or DGG cycles. If you’re looking for a reference work, either of these choices is a good starting point. Yannick Nezet-Seguin has also chosen the Leopold Nowak edition of this symphony, which also aligns with Jochum’s personal preference. And while others have referred to this performance as “tensionless,” and suggested that musically, the dynamics are perhaps “murky,” I find nothing could be further from the truth – this is a Bruckner 7th for a new age, and sets a new benchmark for a recorded performance of this work. And the disc is sourced from a live recording – no mean feat in a media where live recordings are often marred by artifacts of their environment. This disc possesses all of the requisite tension and release that is the very essence of Bruckner, and the recording is incredible – on par with everything else I’ve come in contact with on SACD from ATMA. A very moving performance, and very highly recommended!
– Tom Gibbs
