I don’t hold advanced degrees in music. In fact, I don’t hold any degrees in music.
I’m not a musicologist.
I’m not even a musician.
I’m just a guy who loves music and has been listening to it (from all genres) for well over 40 years.
Therefore, I cannot rate the skill of the individual musicians in these recordings. I won’t even know if they flubbed notes or missed entire measures.
What I will do is rate the following criteria using a 1-5 scale (5 is “awesome” and 1 is “poor”):
- Sound quality of the recording
- Overall musicianship
- CD liner notes
- How does this make me feel?
It’s the last one I’m most interested in discovering.
I want to know which of Bruckner’s symphonies, in the hands of which conductor, are my favorites.
My rating system will help me determine that.
But, please remember that these are just my opinions and, in no way, am I suggesting there’s anything drastically wrong with any of these conductors, orchestras, musicians, or performances. I’m just being a critic. So take what I write with a grain of salt, please.