Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Susanne Benda

A lot of C major, a lot of jubilation.

Pablo Heras-Casado does not celebrate a Bruckner of rush and ecstasy on the podium. Rather, without a baton, and thus feeling very close to the sound, he searches for connections between the blocks, for special sound colors amidst the minimalist but never mechanical repetitions. The conductor carefully builds up the climaxes in the first movement, where the brass in particular shines, and in between he repeatedly focuses on individual bars – right up to a passage in the solo trumpet, which almost seems to swing here.

Südwest Presse, Jürgen Kanold

Very active, demanding, full of energy. No show, but meticulous passion, historically aware. Ideal for the 6th Symphony, which drives forward rhythmically from the very first bar. No incense, no church fuss, but nothing at all. An exciting Bruckner hour. And Heras-Casado also reveals structures, painting lyrical chamber music.

 

Online Merker, Alexander Walther

Pablo Heras-Casado, the judicious conductor of the SWR Symphonieorchester, emphasizes the freshness and vitality perfectly.

Heras-Casado then gave a moving interpretation of the solemn Adagio of the second movement with its descending F major scale. The dark, rich string melody revealed seemingly unfathomable secrets. Resignation and melancholy were overcome with the wonderfully played intensity of the second string melody.

Pablo Heras-Casado created the finale with its sweeping violin theme at  a breathtaking speed. It freed itself from its subdued mood with a bold fanfare response. The references to the first movement were echoed in the passionately played string melodies of the second movement.

 

Badische Zeitung, Johannes Adam

Heras-Casado, an agile Spanish conductor with a keen eye for expression, who missed nothing and left nothing to chance, exposed them. The result was a polished, magnificent interpretation between the poles of emphasis and idyll. Strings, woodwinds, brass, timpani: excellent.

 

Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz-Rheinhessen, Christian Knatz

In the first part, Bruckner’s claim to his sixth symphony, which he considered to be one of his best, is added to this claim.Heras-Casado shapes it with his bare hands, without a baton; clear impulses and large movements mark out contours and sharpen contrasts that have the right measure: expressivity, not effect, that’s what it’s all about; also because the SWR Symphony Orchestra is in top form (…)

In the Adagio, the conductor endows the funeral march with countless nuances, combining precision with elegance. The long lines can be heard and seen, especially as not every little detail needs to be indicated in a repertoire piece.

 

Hamburger Abendblatt, Joachim Mischke

Carefully judged volume contrasts, sparing use of vibrato to avoid sentimentality, very brisk tempo suggestions and a willingness to be bluntly transparent allowed a Bruckner interpretation to emerge that was very analytically clear and far from leaning back into transcendence. But also relentlessly detailed. The further Heras-Casado drilled into this symphony, allowing the Adagio to breathe out broadly and keeping the Scherzo light and airy – in Bruckner dimensions – the more an inner calm came to the initial tension. (…) In the finale, the orchestra and conductor let themselves drift more and more with the music, taking the big approaches into the big finale, and there it was again, the good old Bruckner goose bumps when the gates to heaven open.