Rafael Kubelik’s fresh and invigorating version of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony has its admirers. Like Haitink’s recently reissued account (Philips, 1/96), it makes a reasonable bargain at medium price. That said, it offers no real competition to the classic triumvirate listed above, and collectors may wish to bear in mind that Solti’s oft-praised performance is scheduled for reissue shortly on a single CD. Despite distinguished individual contributions from Martina Arroyo and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Kubelik’s soloists are a variable bunch and there is some scrappiness of ensemble when Mahler’s pantechnicon lurches forward. Kubelik’s desire to keep the music on the move is understandable, but he does not always allow for the articulation of significant detail or, more seriously in this work, the ‘drawing heavenward’ of harmonic resolution. The excitement, genuine enough particularly in Part 1, remains very much on the surface, the appropriate ‘metaphysical’ tone strangely elusive. I should add that the disc is well-indexed and comes with full texts and supporting documentation.'