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Newsletter - April 1, 2026

Newsletter - April 1, 2026

Newsletter - April 1, 2026
A perfect CD cover for April Fools Day!
Welcome to the Newsletter from Abruckner.com!

As of March 31st the Discography Database and the Bruckner Archive Database have been updated. The underlined headlines below will take you to the various sections of the website where the bullet points below are featured. Please use these as guides to the new information offered since the last newsletter.

Newsletter - April 1, 2026

There is still time to sign up and attend the Bruckner Journal Reader’s Conference taking place at on Friday, April 3rd through Saturday, April 4th at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. There are twelve speakers lined up to make presentations either in person or internationally via ZOOM. In formation about signing up can be found here.

Also, if you are planning on attending the East Coast Brucknerathon in September, information and a sign-up list can be found here.

For many years, abruckner.com was a self-sustaining website. Sales of CDs and videos helped to support the cost of acquisition, website expenses and other fees. But in recent years, as the number of subscribers has plateaued and the number of Bruckner releases have slowed, revenue has fallen to the point that maintaining the website has not only become a pull on my time, but also one on finances as well. I also know many of you obtain your recordings locally and through online outlets that can afford more competitive prices and shipping. I certainly understand that. But there are times, especially when family activities or vacations present themselves, where it becomes a matter of balancing priorities and I cannot help but wonder just how important this site is to my subscribers. In addition, industry data clearly shows that the way most people listen to music today is via subscribed online accounts. This trend is led by the popular music industry, but classical music is beginning to trend that way as well, especially when it comes to high resolution downloads. This trend begs the question of the viability of a "discography" in the future and the subtle difference between a commercial recording available for download and a broadcast that is available "on demand" for a fixed period of time. Some broadcasts are only available for a week, but some stations allow streaming for as long as a year.

There is a donation button below. Feel free to use it or not. The site will continue until I pass it over to the Bruckner Society of America for their maintenance. But it must be remembered that websites such as these - ones created and maintained by one person - have a way of disappearing unless someone else comes along and continues that commitment of time and enthusiasm.







Any donations will appear on your credit card statement as "Charter Oak Recordings."

Another area of continued activity for me is The Bruckner Society of America The Society was founded in 1931 and was very active through the 1960’s. But things slowed down and the Society became inactive after the last publication of “Chord and Discord” in 1998. In 2009, the Society’s last president, Charles Eble passed away and some of his business passed to David Hempel. I contacted David and together we were able to restore the Society’s non-profit status and allowed the Society to access its dormant assets.

Since then, we have restructured the Board of Directors and have resumed the bestowing of the Julio Kilenyi Medal of Honor to deserving individuals. Some of those include William Carragan, Benjamin Korstvedt, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Kurt Masur, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Daniel Barenboim, Hans Graf, Riccardo Chailly, Jaap van Zweden, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Gerd Schaller, Herbert Blomstedt and more recently to Fabio Luisi in Dallas and Manfred Honeck in Pittsburgh.

In addition to this activity, the Society has adopted “The Bruckner Journal” as its print / online publication. The Society also offers its own line of compact discs. In the future, the Society will also maintain the Bruckner Symphony Versions Discography, which is the centerpiece of this website.

You can support all of this activity and receive access to "The Bruckner Journal" by becoming a member of the Bruckner Society of America. Donations can be made online at the Society's website.

LATEST NEWS AND POSTINGS

  • Any news about Bruckner that reaches my desk is posted here. After a while, interesting stories are moved to the FEATURES SECTION (below).


THE BRUCKNER ARCHIVE

  • The Bruckner Archive recording database (with over 10,700 listings) has been updated and it is easy to download as an Excel file. Many of these recordings are available to collectors and researchers. Contact me for details on how you can fill in some holes in your collection. The database is fully sortable including the ability to sort by performance date.

    As noted above, I have now added the "Pre-Donation" datafile which reflects what was held in the Archive prior to the donation of recordings to the Austrian National Library.


EDITOR'S SECTION

  • There are many subjects covered here. While the topics remain relatively static, the sections themselves are frequently updated, so make it a point to check out the various subjects under this heading.


NEW AND FEATURED RELEASES

  • A listing of new releases and exclusive recordings - many currently available in my webstore.


FUTURE RELEASES AND RECENT DISCOVERIES

  • A listing of future releases and recordings that have recently been discovered.


DOWNLOADS

  • A collection of wonderful downloads including scores and the always popular DOWNLOAD OF THE MONTH.


WEB STORE

  • The web store focuses on new Bruckner recordings and other Bruckner recordings that are not generally available. The store is divided up into sections for CDs and DVDs, books and scores, downloads, bargain samples and collectibles. Be sure to check out each section for new items. My focus is on new releases and hard-to-find items.



FEATURES

  • As stories in the LATEST NEWS AND POSTINGS section get older, those that are still relevant get moved into the FEATURES SECTION. There is a wealth of information here that you may have missed when they were first posted.


ARTICLES / GRAPHICS

  • Essays in English and other languages are entered as they are discovered or accepted.

  • New graphics (over 1,500) are frequently added.


PLEASE SUPPORT THIS SITE All the information provided on this site is available to you free-of-charge. But it is not free for me to get it to you. Recordings must be purchased as does the server space upon which this website is stored. There is an easy way for you to support this venture. Simply purchase recordings and other items in my web store. Purchases will support the ongoing expenses of operating this website.

Stay safe and happy listening!

John F. Berky