Was it a sign of conductors’ general satisfaction with Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony or editorial foot-dragging, that the work’s original 1887 version wasn’t published and performed until 1972? It certainly was Hermann Levi’s dissatisfaction or at least discombobulation with it, so shortly after his very successful Munich performance of the Seventh, that made Bruckner revise the work in the first place. It is this elaborate, raw earlier version that Markus Poschner performs here, in the latest edition by Paul Hawkshaw for the New Anton Bruckner Complete Edition. More ornate, brassier, and with more economically employed woodwinds, this version doesn’t smoothen edges and doesn’t round corners: An interesting insight into emboldened Bruckner at his unadulterated self.
Please login to post a review
Reviews
“… This performance is the best that I have heard so far in the Capriccio series and the best of the 1887 score of the Eighth… The recording is excellent…”
Roger Hecht – American Record Guide – July/August 2023
Crescendo Joker Absolut
Sound 9 Booklet 10 Repertoire 9 Interpretation 10
“… this new recording can be considered as a reference for this 1887 version.”
Pierre-Jean Talbot – crescendo-magazine.be – 23 February 2023
“… I’m inclined to think it’s the finest performance of the score now available …”
Christian Hoskins – Gramophone magazine – April 2023
Recommended
“Anyone wanting to hear the original version of Bruckner’s monumental Eighth Symphony given the best possible advocacy need look no further”
Ralph Moore – MusicWebInternational.com – 14 March 2023
*****
Remy Franck – Pizzicato.lu – 11 February 2023
Media Downloads
Whenever possible we provide a high resolution CD cover image and a PDF version of the CD booklet for you to download and keep. These are found in your history if purchased and once you have logged in.