Berky, John: The Gerd Rubahn Recording of the Bruckner Symphony No. 3
John F. Berky

There are two items here. First is my essay that discusses the mystery revolving around this recording. For many years, it was thought that the Rubahn recording was actually a concert recording of the premiere performance of the Fritz Oeser edition of this symphony as given by Leopold Ludwig and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. A few years ago, I was able to obtain access to the studio recording made by the same forces a few days later. The differences are so great that it essentially disproves that theory. I have added a brief comparison of passages for your own evaluation. The first passage is the Ludwig studio recording followed by the same passage in the Rubahn recording.

In a revision to the original article, information is provided that positively identifies the actual performers.