This performance curtails the silences in the interests of the Italian conductor Claudio Abbado’s linear approach...This is Bruckner sunny side up, lending a molto espressivo bloom to the string cantilenas in the opening movement and a con amore sparkle to the brass chorales. The orchestra, combining old friends and young talents, radiates a fabulously chamber-musical quality.

Abbado keeps the music on the move; textures are full rather than thick...Abbado himself is invariably the main focus of attention and he's wonderful to watch: theatrical posing and outsize gestures are evidently foreign to his nature...The players vary in age and appearance: no stiffening dress-code clamps down with unwarranted formality, just well-dressed men and women totally into the business of making great music. And boy, do they deliver!