Product Review

The Dresden Staatskapelle has a Bruckner tradition that stretches back more than a century and is now lovingly curated by its new music director, Christian Thielemann - himself a powerful advocate for the composer's symphonies. The Seventh, whose Adagio was shaped by news of Wagner's death in Venice, is paired with songs of Hugo Wolf, who was also deeply affected by that news. Wolf's songs, can be seen as oblique reflections on the influence of Wagner, especially when sung, as they are here by Renee Fleming, with the utmost delicacy and intimacy.