Sir Simon Rattle on the completed Ninth Symphony of Anton Bruckner (2012) (19 min.)

Before retiring as chief conductor, Sir Simon Rattle went on tour with the Berliner Philharmoniker in the summer of 2018 with concerts in London, Vienna, Amsterdam, Cologne, Madrid and Barcelona. The programme, which was performed in the Philharmonie before the tour, included Anton Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony, whose last movement remained unfinished although the composer’s total concept was largely complete. From the surviving sketches, a group of musicologists produced a performing version that with the exception of a few bars, draws on the composer’s notes. In 2012, the Philharmoniker and its chief conductor presented this four-movement version of Bruckner’s last symphony to the public, and in this video, you can see Sir Simon's introduction to that performance.