An exceptional highlight of our tour: The final 2 minutes of Bruckners monumental 5th symphony under the baton of Christian Thielemann at Suntory Hall on November 15th, 2025. Video © Suntory Hall #viennaphilharmonic #bruckner #classicalmusic | Vienna Philharmonic / Wiener Philharmoniker

Today we celebrate Anton Bruckner’s birthday (1824–1896) with one of his greatest achievements in counterpoint: the Finale of the Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major. This monumental movement begins with a lonely statement of the fugue subject in the lower strings, gradually unfolding into an immense double fugue. Bruckner develops the theme with rigorous contrapuntal devices—stretto, inversion, augmentation—while building an overwhelming symphonic architecture. In the climactic coda, the contrapunta