In September 2024, the music world celebrates the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner’s birth in 1824. To coincide with the anniversary itself, and following the release of Bruckner’s Ninth earlier in 2024, Accentus Music releases this new recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 2 with the Bamberg Symphony, this time under the musical direction of their conductor laureate Christoph Eschenbach. Composed in a rather restless and pessimistic state of mind, Bruckner’s Second oscillates between heartfelt prayers, desperate outbursts, helpless silence, and ecstatic dance scenes.

The sincerity and at the same time emotionality of Anton Bruckner's musical thoughts create an inimitable magnetism that makes one "forget" time in the very best sense of the word. Anyone who wants to approach Bruckner only analytically will find their mind boggled, especially at the first encounter. His great power is a certain "transcendental charm" that is common to all his symphonies.

"Janárceková's intellectually unpretentious expressionist music never runs the risk of becoming cliche-infected: her will to express herself and her awareness of fragmentariness combine in a subtle sensuality of sound. At every moment the music seems to be 'appropriate': far removed from triviality, and away from fashionable contemplative platitudes." (Dirk Wieschollek) The Slovak Quasars ensemble's conductor Ivan Buffa also doubles as the piano soloist with the Bamberg Symphony in the piano concerto of Viera Janárceková, who surely must be counted as one of the most distinguished female voices in today's European composition landscape.

A tremendous song without words: Ernest Bloch's Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra Shelomo is one of the most important solo works of the 20th century, in which the quality of the cello, its likeness to the human voice, is condensed with overwhelming artistic expression. Ulrich Witteler, the principal cellist of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, recorded Shelomo for GENUIN with "his" orchestra under the direction of Jakub Hrůša. The outstanding cellist and the world-class orchestra under its principal conductor play this impressive testimony to Jewish intellectual life, cast in a musical language from around 1915 that, with moving intensity, combined elements of Jewish sacred music with the latest stylistic elements!