It's interesting that most of Barenboim's recent recordings with the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra have him indulging in his Teutonic and dramatic instincts the furthest we've ever seen, something easily noticed with composers and pieces he's recorded before (ex. symphonies of Schumann, Brahms, Elgar), yet his Bruckner is the complete opposite. His latest and third cycle sees him at his most agile and lean. His first movement of the 4th, as one example, is a taut 17:38! I wonder if he felt he had no where left to go in that style for Bruckner after his previous traversals with the Chicago Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic, so opted going for a different direction to justify the new set, or if there's just something unique to his interpretive feelings about Bruckner which lead to his decisions. Whatever the why, it's fascinating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAPkvpEOvQQ&list=OLAK5uy_mVUKQsfUnNJrVduVZh2wacLPwqmI5bf4Y&index=13