‘Bruckner's compositions are a mystery as the whole person is a mystery. How someone who comes from such a narrow background, from rural circumstances, can write such a work with such incredible foresight and aura … When I look at the score as an expert, as a professional, I see this unbelievable mastery that is technically embedded in there. But none of that plays a role in listening. I don’t have to know anything about Bruckner, I don’t have to be able to read notes and still I can be touched.’
– Markus Poschner
Markus Poschner’s acclaimed recordings of Bruckner’s symphonies bring together the versions identified as having significant revisions and changes in the authoritative New Anton Bruckner Complete Edition. It reflects the latest research and the most up-to-date editorial criteria, making this 18-disc set the definitive Bruckner symphonies cycle. From the embryonic ‘Student Symphony’ in F minor to the glorious but incomplete Ninth, these are works filled with endless fascination and profound depths of emotion, revealing a composer solidly grounded in Austrian tradition while simultaneously looking towards infinity.
Since joining the Bruckner Orchestra Linz in 2017 Markus Poschner has garnered international acclaim for his new and exciting approach to music making – his Bruckner interpretations are a shining example of this. In 2020 the orchestra and conductor were respectively named Austrian Orchestra and Conductor of the Year. Since winning the German Conductors’ Award in 2004, Poschner has made guest appearances with numerous internationally renowned orchestras, including the Bamberger Symphoniker, Münchner Philharmoniker, Dresdner Philharmonie, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest and NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo. He has also worked at the state opera houses of Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg and Stuttgart, and opera houses in Frankfurt and Zurich.
The Bruckner Orchester Linz (BOL), whose history spans 200 years of tradition and excellence, is among the leading orchestras of Central Europe. Since Markus Poschner’s appointment as chief conductor in 2017/18 it has undergone a process of becoming more accessible, through generating new concert formats, seeking out unexpected performance places and, above all, creating acclaimed cultural events. The BOL’s cooperation with eminent soloists and conductors is testament to its reputation. In 2020 it was honoured with the Best Orchestra of the Year award at the Austrian Musical Theatre Awards. Through this series, Markus Poschner and the BOL have explored their own version of the music of the orchestra’s namesake, rendering it in an unmistakable Upper Austrian musical dialect.
An ensemble of international renown, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra is a paragon of Viennese orchestral tradition. Known for its exceptional programming, the orchestra combines nineteenth-century repertoire with contemporary works and rarely performed pieces from other periods. The orchestra regularly tours internationally, and its discography spans a broad range of cross-genre recordings. Under the leadership of its former chief conductors, which include Milan Horvat, Leif Segerstam, Lothar Zagrosek, Pinchas Steinberg, Dennis Russell Davies, Bertrand de Billy and Cornelius Meister, the orchestra has continuously expanded its repertoire and its international reputation. Marin Alsop has served as the orchestra’s chief conductor since 2019.