Orfeo C208 891 A - Bruckner Symphony No. 7

At first, I resisted putting this CD onto my list, since it deals with a performance issue and not a production issue. Getting into performance issues can open up an entirely new type of discussion. However, I believe that this is a unique situation that defies a rational explanation. This CD offers a performance by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis. It is a live performance recorded in the Philharmonie im Gasteig in Munich on May 1st of 1987. As the CD booklet shows, Sir Colin chose to perform the symphony with the Scherzo and Adagio reversed. Before adding this CD to this page, I had a colleague check with the Bavarian Radio about this performance. Perhaps, the movements were reversed in the production of the CD. However, the actual concert tape in the Bavarian Radio archives states that, "changed order of movements authorized by Colin Davis". So there you have it. Perhaps Sir Colin thought that the Seventh Symphony should be performed like the Symphony No. 8. In 1984, he performed the same work with the same ensemble in the correct order. And one must wonder why Orfeo would release such a peculiar performance.

(My thanks to Johannes Honigmann and Hans Roelofs for this information.)