Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker in Bruckner’s Fourth, the »Romantic«, in the 1881 version as edited by Robert Haas. Made for EMI at the start of the 1970s, before Karajan returned to the symphony for Deutsche Grammophon, it is a broad, burnished reading: horn calls rising out of the opening tremolo, a hunting scherzo with real weight, and a finale that builds patiently to its last great chorale.

Now reissued by Warner Classics and on YouTube as a full album, it is one of the essential Karajan Bruckner recordings, and a fine way into the composer’s most approachable symphony.

i. bewegt, nicht zu schnell
ii. andante quasi allegretto
iii. scherzo. bewegt – trio
iv. finale. bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell

℗ 1971 · warner classics