Klaus Sonnleitner, organ; Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel

The fact that Anton Bruckner was an organist all his life, as well as being a composer, was presumably the idea which lay behind the planning for this concert. In the first half we heard a number of Bach’s organ compositions played by Klaus Sonnleitner, who is the resident organist at St Florian’s where Bruckner once resided, and in the second the Vienna Phil played his Eighth symphony.

Unfortunately, the link between the two was musically somewhat tenuous. The vast spaces of St Florian’s lend themselves to a highly charged resonance and that wonderful falling off of tone which Bruckner uses to stunning effect in his symphonies. Time and again the orchestra span a line into the vast space of the Royal Albert Hall and then gave it time to resonate and die.

Klaus Sonnleitner’s Bach did nothing of the kind. The opening Sinfonia from BWV 29 in Guilmant’s arrangement was pleasant but unconvincing. Three Chorale Preludes brought interesting tonal colour where registration was more convincing that articulation or phrasing. There were times when I wondered if Klaus Sonnleitner had had enough time to practise on the instrument, given the strange variations in phrasing and timing.

The Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 543 fared rather better though the most interesting item was the gentle encore which emerged from deep in the soul of the organ.

No such concerns in the second half where Lorin Maazel brought us an heroic vision of struggle and ultimate transcendent victory. The first movement found real sweetness in the strings and smooth transitions. The brass cascades were breath-taking and the whole had a sense of inevitability and purposeful direction. The fluidity of the Scherzo included some almost Mahlerian harp and flute passages. After the Tristanesque pain of the slow movement, the finale had a glorious richness – a sense of joyous seriousness leading to an exultant climax.

For the penultimate night of what has been an outstanding season this could hardly have been better. BH