Symphony No.8 : Klemperer / Kolner Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester

Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 8 in C minor

Kolner Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester
Otto Klemperer, conductor

Saal 1 Funkhaus WDR Cologne 7-Jun-1957 - mono recording

This 1957 live WDR broadcast of Bruckner’s Symphony No.8 conducted by Otto Klemperer has never been officially available before. The broadcast was made at the time of Klemperer’s incredible 're-birth' as a major international conductor which lead to Walter Legge signing him to an exclusive contract with EMI Classics.

The tapes have been superbly remastered using the original WDR master tapes.

...It's particularly good to have this rugged and purposeful performance, which is notable not only for its strong sense of architecture but also for its acute awareness of the music's urgency...All of this - and it's very good indeed - is preserved in thoroughly decent 1950s radio sound. This is a disc which allows us to hear Klemperer at his finest in a work he had been conducting since the 1920s - including the London premiere in 1929, as we learn from David Patmore's notes. Strongly recommended. Nigel Simeone, International Record Review
This Medici Masters issue from 13 years earlier is welcome in that it provides a Klemperer performance of the symphony which is not only complete, but goes some way to demonstrating why he is considered one of the great conductors of the last century. Christian Hoskins, classicalsource.com ( Medici Masters )