UNITEL and CLASSICA present CHRISTIAN THIELEMAN conducts PFITZNER and BRUCKNER CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN

conducts “Grandiose, unaffected, expansive, majestic, immovable...” and – Christian Thielemann‘s description of Anton Bruckner‘s music PFITZNER vividly captures its essence and uniqueness. And he himself captures the soul of the great romantic composer in his inter- pretation of Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony with the Munich BRUCKNER Philharmonic. Recorded live at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden on 14 November 2006, the concert also features three or- Music by Hans Pfitzner chestral preludes from the opera “Palestrina” by another late- Anton Bruckner romantic composer, Hans Pfitzner. Conductor Christian Thielemann The preludes from Pfitzner’s “Palestrina”, the composer’s most well-known work, evoke the events about to transpire in the Video Director Agnes Méth acts that follow them. While the subtle, refined nuances of the Orchestra Münchner Philharmoniker first prelude suggests the creative crisis of the opera’s hero, the Renaissance composer Palestrina, the second reflects the Hans Pfitzner turbulent atmosphere of the Council of Trent and the third Three preludes to “Palestrina” (22') the inner peace found at long last by Palestrina beneath the cupola of St. Peter’s. Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 7 in E major (70') Completed in September 1883, several months after the death of Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 in E Total length 92' major is a stunning homage to the composer of the “Ring”. A passionate admirer of Wagner, Bruckner claimed that he A production of Unitel in a live-recording had the master‘s death in mind while writing the Adagio of from the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden this symphony. With its particularly soaring and melodious themes, the Seventh is Bruckner‘s most popular and acces- shot in HDTV 1080 sible symphony. Cat. no. A05512063 It would be difficult to find a better team to interpret Bruckner‘s music today than Christian Thielemann and the Munich Philharmonic. Thielemann, the General Music Director of the Munich ensemble, is a universally recognized Bruckner and Wagner expert, who inaugurated his tenure at the head of the Philharmonic by conducting Bruckner’s Fifth. The Munich or- chestra has a long-standing tradition of performing Bruckner‘s music and boasts a particular attachment to the Seventh: it was the second orchestra to play the work, and the success it WORLD SALES: obtained with it in 1885 helped establish Bruckner as a major C Major Entertainment contemporary composer. Elmar Kruse & Nadja Joost Thielemann also led the Munich Philharmonic and the Tel.: +49-(0)3030306464 Regensburg Boys‘ Choir in the first concert given in honor of e-mail: [email protected] Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City in October 2005, which

All rights reserved • credits not contractual • Different territories was also recorded by Unitel/Classica.