Sentence:  `` Now that Bruno Walter is virtually in retirement and my dear friend Dimitri Mitropoulos is no longer with us , I am probably the only one - with the possible exception of Leonard Bernstein - who has this special affinity for and <WSD>champions</WSD> the works of Bruckner and Mahler '' . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  protect or fight for as a champion