Work: Symphony no. 4 in E flat major, "Romantic", WAB 104

Stepping in for Kirill Petrenko, Daniel Harding conducts the Berlin Phil's “army of generals” in an unfussy Bruckner Four, while Tabea Zimmermann plays Schnittke's Viola Concerto.

The whole performance, which drew thematic parallels between Mozart and Bruckner, was a master class in eliciting more with less.

It was a pleasure to hear the Vienna Philharmonic in Herbert Blomstedt's deeply-invested nonagenarian's view of music he has been performing for nearly seven decades.

Forget powerhouse “hojotohos” and sandblasting brass. Elīna Garanča and Christian Thielemann offered more intimate portraits of these composers at the Großes Festspielhaus.