Originally Posted by
profusion
Bruckner's 8th Symphony is one of my absolute favorite symphonic works. Be sure to pick up one of Wilhelm Furtwaengler's recordings to hear it at it's best. His 1944 Vienna recording is amazing, but an obscure '80s Japanese CD pressing is the only release of it that has been at the proper speed. The others are all about a semi-tone too fast. His 1949 Berlin recordings of it (two consecutive nights) are wonderful and highly recommended. Karajan's 1980s recording in Berlin is good but too slow in tempo, as Karajan so often was. Other modern-day recordings are taken at glacial tempos and tend to be ponderous, whereas Furtwaengler really understood Bruckner.
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