Newsletter: December 1, 2024
As of November 30th the Discography Database and the Bruckner Archive Database have been updated. The underlined headlines below will take you to the various sections of the website where the bullet points below are featured. Please use these as guides to the new information offered since the last newsletter. Newsletter - December 1, 2024 The Bicentennial of Bruckner's birth is gradually winding down. I emphasize the word gradually since many orchestras are addressing the anniversary as they start up their new season this fall. The Bruckner Archive is gathering new performances at a rate of 1-2 concerts per day! It really was an incredible celebration. As would be expected, the major focus was in Austria and Germany. I would say that the only major disappointment was the United States where the major orchestras seemed to pay little attention to the anniversary. But kudos go to Austria where the Bruckner 200 celebrations were a daily occurrence, and some events are still underway. ---------------------------- Occasionally, I find it necessary to remind my readers of the differences between Abruckner.com, the Bruckner Society of America and the Bruckner Archive. Since I am associated with all three entities, it is easy for one to link them all together, but there are distinct differences between their function and their structure. 1) Abruckner.com is my website. In addition to all the information that is gathered here, it is the home of the Bruckner Symphony Version Discography. The discography attempts to list every commercially available recording that has been issued over the years and to distinguish which version or edition was used in the recording. The website is privately owned and is edited by me. It is a commercial venture in that the cost of acquiring all new recordings is funded by the sale of recordings, scores and collectibles available through the site's webstore. Without these sales, the website would cease to exist, so your participation is appreciated. Abruckner.com has also sponsored Bruckner Tours of Austria in 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2024. 2) The Bruckner Archive is a separate activity from Abruckner.com. The Archive can be accessed through the Abruckner.com website but the database is entirely different. While the discography database focuses on commercially available recordings, the Archive focuses on any recorded performance. As of this writing, the Archive holds over 12,600 recordings. It also contains a collection of prints, books, scores and other ephemera. Much of the collection has been digitized and any digitized recording has been shared with the Osterreichische Mediathek in Vienna. It is my hope some day to raise the money necessary to transfer the physical collection to Vienna in order that it can be preserved as a collection. 3) The Bruckner Society of America is a non-profit private foundation recognized as a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. It was founded in 1931 in New York City and was very active until the late 1990s when the last issue of Chord and Discord was published. In 2009, I resurrected the Society and established a new board of directors thus preserving its non-profit status. The Society continues to award the Julio Kilenyi Medal of Honor to deserving individuals and organizations. It also assists regional orchestras in the United States with funding of Bruckner performances. When the editorship of The Bruckner Journal shifting to Dr. Michael Cucka in the USA, the journal has now become the print arm of the Society. The Society has also taken over the sponsorship of the biannual Bruckner Journal Readers Conference. Additionally, the Society now operates the annual Brucknerathon previously sponsored by Abruckner.com. Since its resurrection in 2009, I have been the Executive Director of the Society. While these three operations have a somewhat incestuous relationship, they are still distinct operations. Perhaps someday, Abruckner.com will fold into the Society, but if it does, many of Abruckner.com's commercial activities will have to be curtailed, and it would require a great deal of maintenance with perhaps less financial support. In short, all of these endeavors are labor intensive and their future will rely on other people stepping up to continue the work. At present, there are no guarantees. In the coming months, my focus will be on preserving the Archive. At present it contains every performance that was ever released on physical media to the public, plus thousands of performances that have been recorded for broadcast or just privately. I will soon be offering some duplicates out of the Archive for sale in my webstore in an effort to raise the funds to transport physical discs to the Mediathek in Austria. Donations for this effort are welcome. --------------------------------- Returning to discographic issues, it appears that most of the complete recorded cycles have been issued. Gerd Schaller's complete cycle is nearing completion and it seems certain that a box set will be forthcoming. A very fine cycle is soon due out of China with Lue Jia conducting the National Performing Arts Center Orchestra of Beijing. From the individual releases that I have been able to obtain from China, it is an excellent series of recordings and the box set appears to be a deluxe endeavor. Hopefully, more information on these two projects will be forthcoming soon. --------------------------------- LATEST NEWS AND POSTINGS THE BRUCKNER ARCHIVE EDITOR'S SECTION
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