Performance on 3 - BBC SSO/Runnicles

Presented by Catherine Bott The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra's chief conductor Donald Runnicles conducts works by composers for whom he has great affinity: Bruckner's Eighth Symphony and Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, written for the birthday of his wife, Cosima. Runnicles spent 10 years working in Germany at the start of his career, immersing himself in this musical language. He said: "I have to breathe this air, this Wagnerian air. It was life-changing and that love affair with Wagner led to what was influenced by him: the Bruckner, the Mahler." "The work of a giant" is how Hugo Wolf described Bruckner's Eighth Symphony, and the symphony itself is a giant, with its full panoply of horns and Wagner tubas. Perhaps Bruckner's greatest work, it is a huge challenge to any orchestra. BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conductor Donald Runnicles Wagner: Siegfried Idyll Bruckner: Symphony no.8 Followed by music from the Leopold String Trio, from the second in their series of concerts recorded at Wigmore Hall, London last September, of the complete Beethoven String Trios. Beethoven: String Trio in C minor, Op.9 no.3 Leopold String Trio. Rachmaninov Morceau de fantasie: Melodie in E Op.3 no.3 Dmitri Alexeev (piano) VIRGIN VBD 561624 2