No need to make allowances for the fact that Franz Welser-Möst leads a youth orchestra: he commands a very satisfying Bruckner Eighth, lively, a touch on the light side, very much in the tradition of Eugen Jochum’s Berlin recording for DG (similar timings). This means fleet outer movements, but an aptly slow, soulful Adagio. There are many details to savor: the conductor’s subtle tempo manipulations in the first movement that create rhythmic variety without ever compromising the music’s onward flow; the scherzo’s powerful climaxes and warm, beautifully played trio; the Adagio’s dignified simplicity of phrasing and serenely spiritual conclusion; and a tremendously exciting finale with brass playing that lacks nothing in power or finesse.
The symphony’s big coda, so often a disappointment in other hands, offers a genuine sense of culmination and a particularly well-balanced final pile-up, while the live sonics, a touch on the dry side, pick up some performance and audience noises here and there but otherwise capture the proceedings with admirably clarity. This may not be a “first version” for your collection–for that go for Lorin Maazel’s budget priced recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, also on EMI–but Bruckner aficionados will find much to relish, and the fact that the entire symphony fits on a single disc makes this a comparatively affordable proposition as well.
