RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
Mihhail Gerts conductor (replacing Robert Trevino)

Bruckner Symphony (1890 version *please note version change) / 84’

A gargantuan blockbuster of a symphony famously described as a ‘battle of demons’ provides a thrilling, bone-crunching, soul-stirring display of orchestral muscle-flexing unlike any other.

With conductor Mihhail Gerts on the podium, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra is primed to meet the challenge of Bruckner at his most satisfyingly apocalyptic.

Heard in its original version – the largest orchestration ever conceived by Bruckner – it uniquely features three harps alongside an enlarged battery of instruments that pack a considerable sonic punch. Beginning with a gentle ripple, it gathers speed and power with increasingly fervour and feeling to become an overwhelming tsunami of sound before ending in uplifting calm.

An expression of Bruckner’s devout faith, the Eighth Symphony is a compelling journey into darkest depths lit up by moments of porcelain-delicate poetry and blissed-out tranquillity. It is a magnificent example of a symphony orchestra stretched to its limits by a master of his craft and of music’s ability to stir the imagination, the heart and the soul with equal, irresistible force.

*Please note that the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Mihhail Gerts will perform the 1890 version of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 and not the 1887 version as previously advertised.

Presented by RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra