This is the first release in a cycle of the Bruckner symphonies by Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic, an enterprise planned for completion in 2024, the bicentenary of the composer’s birth. Assuming all goes well, this will be the orchestra’s first recorded cycle under a single conductor, a fact that’s all the more remarkable when one considers that the Vienna Symphony Orchestra recorded one with Volkmar Andreae as long ago as 1953. Elsewhere, the Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden and Chicago Symphony orchestras already have two cycles apiece, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus are part way through recording their third.

The Eighth Symphony is of course familiar territory for the orchestra, as it is for Thielemann, who has two previous recordings to his name, an audio release on Profil and a video release on C Major, both with the Staatskapelle Dresden. The newcomer, however, has a sweep and depth that’s a definite advance on the two earlier interpretations. As usual with Thielemann’s Bruckner, there’s a careful attention to dynamics coupled with a flexible approach to tempo. Examples of the latter include an accelerando in the approach to the recapitulation in the first movement, a notable holding back before the first cymbal clash in the Adagio and a judicious application of rubato in the second subject group of the finale. Thielemann also gives Bruckner’s pauses plenty of time to make their effect, although curiously he disregards the fermata after the brief but sublime chorale at 5'09" in the finale, a moment where an extra moment of repose would have been most welcome.

Sony’s recording is more immediate and spacious than the Profil release but it captures a fair amount of ambient noise, which is occasionally intrusive when listening on headphones. There are also a few moments of imprecise ensemble, mostly minor, but the absence of the harps in the silence that follows the Adagio’s second cymbal clash is something I would have expected to have been remedied during post-production. Had it not been for these issues, I would have been inclined to rank this release as fine an example of the Vienna Philharmonic’s tradition in Bruckner as their famous 1988 recording of the Eighth under Karajan for DG. As it stands, however, the interpretations by Wand with the Berlin Philharmonic and Haitink with the Staatskapelle Dresden, both recorded live, remain as authoritative and rewarding as it gets in this symphony.