The Concertgebouw Orchestra are on a roll. After an epic performance of Respighi’s Pines of Rome a fortnight ago under Jaap van Zweden, Klaus Mäkelä’s very dark, and intense reading of Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony will likewise stay long in the mind. Audience members had flown in from all around the world. One gentleman from the south of France was in Amsterdam for all three performances while one young brass player had travelled up from Lucerne, Switzerland, to hear his professor perform Bruckner live in the Concertgebouw, joined by his family who had also flown in from Texas, USA. This concert meant so much to so many. Everyone though, left with a smile on their face.
The programme
Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony
Opening cello rumbles gave away little of the angst to come. But with the lower brass seated stage right beside nine horns, plus the sight of three resplendent harps at the ready, signs were promising. As usual, Katy Woolley’s horn solos defied belief. Her tone so centred and precise, was matched perfectly by Ivan Podyomov’s searching oboe and Perry Hoogendijk’s thundering tuba, oozing gravitas.
Mäkelä created two Bruckner realms: one, nurturing and welcome; the other dark and unpredictable. Renowned for their polished, round sound, tonight’s RCO Brass felt different. Their power and might was truly magnificent. No-one dared breathe as their rock-solid wall (aided by Bart Jansen’s equally commanding timpani) left the strings retreating in fear of their lives.
Returning to a place of safety, Mäkelä soon created an attractive swagger which had audience and musicians alike, swinging in their seats. Before long, amidst the Scherzo’s hurly burly, Bruckner’s three harps added a touch of glitz and glamour to the evening, suspending time momentarily with their chimes.
A little history
The Concertgebouw Orchestra has a close affinity with the symphonies of Bruckner, becoming the first orchestra to record a complete Bruckner cycle under Bernard Haitink in the 1960s and 70s. Music evokes memories, not just for music-lovers but for those on stage. Never more so than in Bruckner’s emotionally charged Adagio. Here, Mäkelä conjured depths of desolation and despair one would expect from the sixty-year-old composer, but not necessarily from a conductor who has just turned thirty. As the harps directed light towards the heavens, the violins, expertly led by guest concertmaster and London Symphony Orchestra leader Benjamin Gilmore, made the depths of sorrow their friend. Their notes, high up the G-string exuding so much pain and longing, were stopped only by the cellos turning the knife even deeper.
Slowly and surely, Mäkelä built towards a new way of being, with phrases so long, for a second time tonight, one dare not breathe. Dignity and gravitas greeted every turn as the Wagner tubas promised hope, and Herman Riekens’ two herculean cymbal crashes literally woke the dead. Unfailingly loyal, the RCO Brass moved as one. Unquestionably, one of the finest brass sections in the world.
And then the moment the entire hall had been waiting for. Bruckner’s huge Finale, complete with crashing timpani and fanfare trumpets. Those marching Roman soldiers we had heard just a fortnight ago were back, and fighting fit.
If only audience members would turn their phones to silent… as instructed…
Mäkelä pitted power against great delicacy as again, slowly and deliberately, they became one. Bruckner’s delicious bass line was unrelenting. Glory to God in the highest.
The RCO will take this programme on tour to Luxembourg, Paris, Köln and Hamburg.
This concert was reviewed in the Concertgebouw on Wednesday 4th November, 2026.
An audio recording was made for the orchestra’s archive collection.
On tour at the Luxembourg Philharmonie and Bruckner’s finale
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