Castor's review was really too kind, IMO. On the other hand, he did put his finger on the problem:
"However, without wishing in any way to belittle the efforts of the arranger, conductor and the splendid players of the RAMSE, one is left wondering how often, in this day and age, one would wish to listen to Bruckner's 2nd Symphony as presented here rather than on one of the many outstanding full orchestral versions available."
My answer would be, "Hardly ever!" Much as with recordings of the "chamber version" of Symphony 7, I am left bewildered at the whole concept. Back in the infancy of the gramophone, reductions of large orchestral scores gave opportunities for hearing a version of that score that would rarely, if ever, come to the local concert hall. Such were the Schoenberg soirées that introduced his friends and associates to new and/or obscure compositions that otherwise would remain unheard.
Today, we can easily acquire and listen to multiple recordings of all eleven Bruckner symphonies that represent the composer's intent. Of course Bruckner knew of, and countenanced, piano reductions of his symphonies and perhaps even welcomed them as a chance for the public to hear an approximation of his music. Remember: no gramophone! The availability of Bruckner's symphonies is no longer a problem, thus the piano reductions and misbegotten "chamber versions" seem at best a novelty, and at worse a perversion of the composer's intent, in my opinion.
Scrawny strings and a buzzing harmonium have no place in a Bruckner symphony, even when as well executed as in the Pinnock version.
My advice: on SACD, try Simone Young and the Hamburg Philharmonic's superb Bruckner 2, which also boasts William Carragan's excellent "First Concept" edition -- the best edition of this wonderful symphony. Or, Marcus Bosch and his Aachen Symphony, another beautiful rendition of the Second. In any event, I would relegate Mr. Pinnock's disc to the category of "party record" for occasional airing around Halloween.
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