Prom 61: Rotterdam PO/ Nézet-Séguin ****
Royal Albert Hall, 28th August 2018
Mention Anton Bruckner and the clichés tumble forth: Wagner acolyte, cathedrals in sound, brass chorales opening the gates of heaven. His symphonies are on the grandest scale, barely contained even within the acoustical barn of the Royal Albert Hall. Yet what impressed most in the Rotterdam Philharmonic’s Prom last night was not Bruckner the epic architect, but Bruckner the chamber musician. Under Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s batonless direction, the quieter, more introverted passages of the Fourth Symphony – which the composer himself dubbed the “Romantic” – emerged as intimate pillow talk, whispered conversations that revealed another side to the Austrian’s personality.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
© BBC | Chris Christodoulou
Read the full review on Bachtrack.