I've had this Reference Recordings HDCD disk (RR-81CD) for a number of years but haven't played it for a year or more for some reason. The Minnesota Orchestra was conducted by Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. It has 3 movements instead of the typical 4 in a symphony and is an hour long. Bruckner intentionally left it unfinished and never heard it performed before his death. The second movement is a Scherzo and Bruckner said this about it, "When they hear that they will be furious, but I shall not notice it; I will be in my grave." He was very religious person and he dedicated this symphony to God. Anyway, I played it last night on my Brioso speakers and for those of you that like classical music, the quality of this recording is absolutely superb. If your CD player doesn't have HDCD decoding, then you'll simply have to put up with it sounding only excellent.
The performance quality is first rate. The sound is big and beautiful and dynamic, and even though others have tried to compose a 4th movement based on Bruckner's notes, they have been universally unsuccessful because the last movement, an Adagio, is a perfect conclusion (in the final few minutes the music is so descriptive you can visualize Bruckner depicting his soul rising to heaven).
Paul

Paul
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