Anton Bruckner – A Giant in the Making

A comprehensive portrait of the composer using extracts from the Bruckner cycle with Valery Gergiev and the Munich Philharmonic at St Florian, Austria.

The recording of a complete Bruckner Cycle by Gergiev and the Munich Phil. at St. Florian in Austria provides us with a unique chance of sourcing all the clips needed to make a comprehensive documentary about the composer. We shall follow the Florianer Sängerknaben during recreation and learning while their music director will talk about the institution, its specifics and Bruckner as a choir boy.

The baroque splendor of St. Florian made a lasting impression on the young Bruckner coming from a fairly poor background, and no wonder that this architecture is reflected in his later compositions. His brilliant organ playing heard in Paris and London brought him first fame. Both, the organists of St. Florian, where he began, and the old cathedral in Linz, where he went next, will talk about his early life and art and point out moments in his later symphonies clearly influenced by the sound of an organ.

The successors of his choral society Liedertafel in Linz will perform and give us access to their copious archives while its music director will assess Bruckner´s vocal work and performing excerpts of secular and sacred compositions.

On another level Valery Gergiev will discuss Bruckner´s most innovative symphonies followed by the appropriate clips. Filming at St. Florian, his birthplace Ansfelden, Linz, the Court Chapel , the Musikverein and his last living quarters in Vienna will round of a profile of this insecure yet self-confident creative musician and hopefully do him justice.

Duration 58' and 90' versions
Video format 4K
Audio format Dolby Atmos
Production Company Monarda Arts
Director Reiner E. Moritz