Luogo e data di registrazione		Philharmonie, Berlin (Germania): - 30-31 gennaio & 1 febbraio 1998 (Symphony No. 4) - 12, 13 & 14 gennaio 1996 (Symphony No. 5) - 19-21 novembre 1999 (Symphony No. 7) - 19-22 gennaio 2001 (Symphony No. 8) - 18 & 20 settembre 1998 (Symphony No. 9)
	Registrazione: live / studio		live recordings
	Producer		Gerald Götze (No. 4, 5, 7, 8, 9)
	Recording Engineer		Christian Feldgen (No. 4, 5, 7, 8, 9)
	Executive Producer		Dr. Stefan Mikorey (No. 4, 5, 7, 8, 9)
	Prima Edizione LP		Nessuna
	Edizione CD		SONY [RCA Red Seal] - 09026 68839 2 - (1 CD) - (p) 1998 - DDD - (Symphony No. 4) SONY [RCA Red Seal] - 09026 68503 2 - (1 CD) - (p) 1997 - DDD - (Symphony No. 5) SONY [RCA Red Seal] - 74321 68716 2 - (1 CD) - (p) 2000 - DDD - (Symphony No. 7) SONY [RCA Red Seal] - 74321 82866 2 - (2 CD's) - (p) 2001 - DDD - (Symphony No. 8) SONY [RCA Red Seal] - 74321 63244 2 - (1 CD) - (p) 1999 - DDD - (Symphony No. 9)
	Note		-

PERFECTION WHAT MAKES THIS CONDUCTOR ESPECIALLY SUCCESSFUL AT THE PODIUM? Posed another wav, how and with what does he reach such extraordinary results, and not only with Bruckner? With what does he cause this breathtaking degree ot naturalness? Immediately, one has to state that Wand did not do anything that was not necessary. But what makes Wand special begins there, that he finds much necessary that others disregard. Above all, he always gives himself the time, often a lot of time, to get close to a composer or to a certain work. For Bruckner and Schubert, Wand took many years before he tried certain symphonies, the great Schubert’s C Major at 60 and Bruckners “Fifth” at 62. That certainly was not because of the technical problems (he had never had these as conductor), but was a question of his getting intellectually close to this great music. But also for works which he had already directed many times, he prepares for weeks, many times months for a certain program. He started to work long before the first rehearsal. With his unique thoroughness he delved into the work in orderto present it so that the public has the feeling that it can not be otherwise. Therefore Wand first studied the score, whether it be a familiar work or not, reading it and hearing it again and again. Naturally, he also read biographies and letters of the composers, delved into the story of the creation of the work and the history of the premiere. The score was always at the center of the work. If he doubted the exactness of the notation or the verbal instructions, he studied the sources, compared with the autograph and the first edition supervised by the composer. Only when the notes and the instructions became clear to him did he start with the “setting up” of the score and the leading voices, that is, with the sketching of articulations, phrasing and dynamics. They are transferred to collective orchestra voices and this before the first rehearsal. The effect of this preparation is not only that Wand had a thorough command of the work but, above all, that he could devote 100% of the rehearsal time to the valuable musical work and, in contrast to the usual practice, can do without important entering certain points of completion. For example, four beats after letter G, the 2nd oboe has to play mezzo forte so that the balance fits, was known to the musicians in a Wand orchestra even before they play the passage. From the first rehearsal on, rehearsals mostly divided into orchestra groups (i.e. separate for strings and winds), Günter Wand worked “precisely” (as his musicians in Cologne called it) until each detail fit and the whole agrees with his idea of “correct.” This way he saved words, with explanation. In general, orchestra musicians did not like this but they accept it from him because he, like an author, “has something to say." In his later years Wand pursued this rather with soft, irresistible persistence stubbornness than with the feared outbursts of anger of his young years. When a soloist came, which did not happened often in the later years, working together in each detail was discussed and rehearsed. During his Cologne years this personal meeting of the minds took place in Wands private apartment; in Hamburg it was in the artist’s dressing room at NDR or the conductor's room at the Musikhalle. Whoever did not agree was not invited again. Great artists like Wilhelm Backhaus, Clara Haskil, Henryk Szeryng, Wolfgang Schneiderhan or Nikita Magaloff came to him again and again simply because they found Günter Wand a congenial partner with whom they could work as with none other. Because he knew that satisfying music making can be reached not through forced subordination to the conductor will but only in the harmony between orchestra and conductor. He valued that all participating musicians, whether as soloist or in the last row internally accepted his idea of the work. Therefore, a rehearsal always meant convincing for him as well. The members of the Berliner Philharmonic, musicians who knew the symphonic repertoire inside out and commanded it by heart, found that Wand's rehearsals makes sense for them because he also has something to say to the most experienced and practiced musicians. It is no wonder that in his concerts even the most well-known symphonies work as new, that to him, the older he became, the more he succeeded was can to be heard on each one of his live CDs. But there is still more perceptible here. This is the difference between rehearsal and concert. Günter Wand went onto the concert platform with his orchestra, as well prepared as possible. Everything is precisely worked out and could almost run automatically. Still, then came the famous “magic extra" of the evening, the emotional interaction between musicians, conductor and audience. That the musicians understood what he wanted and wanted to play their parts accordingly has been accomplished in the rehearsals. Now in the concert it was important that the listener heard senses in and behind the notes. He made music with an inner fire, however, he did not conduct "for effect" much like many others. His musicians confirmed this again and again. But there was something he wanted to accomplish, namely that the public was spoken to inwardly through the music and mrrsic rnaking. And he succeeded in the fact that he transformed his strict rehearsal style into live sound with spontaneous impulses of emotional freedom which come from the heart. One of his Hamburg musicians once made in the point. “Wand makes music not externally but internally, and this in the highest and most brilliant manner. His musicianship has authenticity." Günter Wand did nothing on the concert platform which was not technically necessary. He kept time “with a minimum of gestures and body language," so precise that the musicians could feel secure even in the most difficult passages. There was no doubt how a ritardando or a diminuendo should be played or a sudden accent is to be placed. Wand led so unobtrusively exact that nothing could go wrong. Again and again the critics had tried to explain it and had asked how it is possible to reach so much (with so few motions). Manual perfection, thoroughly worked out and practiced in seven decades as conductor, was obviously a prerequisite to this man for emotionally full music making. Therefore he also had the score in his head not on the podium. For anyone who had again and again experienced Wand concerts, the enormous vitality and concentrated energy that came from this and fragile body was amazing. The complete, highly sensitive man vibrated to the pulse of the music, as his body sensed the basic tempo and mirrors in return. With it, he gave the orchestra musicians extra signals. Günter Wand had control of the musical event so that the musicians play under his direction works simply “corrected” as it there were no alternative aesthetic. Since his seventieth year, Günter Wand had been regarded undisputedly as the great old man of the baton, as one of the last in a series from Toscanini, Furtwängler and Klemperer and as the perhaps most important conductor of our time. What he once said about Otto Klemperer of one who had the feeling of living in a “ridiculous time," can also be true of him as well; “In a world of tragic occurrences he stands for the importance of being." With advanced age, Günter Wand, the great timeless one who adhered to his results unwaveringly, had become the revered figure whose musical competence no one doubted. He was respected, admired and loved, (which indeed is not received by every conductor) by the musicians. Also young and old colleagues from Japan, Russia, and England sought his advice, coming to his rehearsals whenever possible in order to learn from him. When he sensed real interest and musical engagement, he allowed them to come with pleasure. Indeed, a respected conductor like Sir Simon Rattle (and who made his City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra great as Wand did that Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra) cites Wand as his greatest role model and missed no chance to hear him in Hamburg, Berlin or Edinburgh and to discuss music and music making with him. “Since I got to know Günter Wand, my life has become a dimension richer." Günter Wand had always understood his profession as that of a servant. He never saw himself in the role of a “podium magician" appearing in mysterious ways as a personal medium between music and audience. For him, directing was for service to the music, service to the work of the composers and not the chance to engage in excessive self-representation. He never regarded an interpretation as the perfect conclusion to his occupation with the work, never considered an interpretation as final. Also, even after the greatest success he immediately continued working. Perhaps Wand had become such a singular figure in the musical life of our times because of this consequent attitude which challenges a comparison with his great predecessors. Wolfgang Seifert (Translation: Kevin Wood)