Bruckner: Symphonie No 8
This is truly a great performance. Bruckner's Eighth demands a sense of  occasion, not just because of its length and complexity, but because of its huge  range of emotional expression. It's also a work that sounds better the slower it  goes (Bruckner is one of the few composers about whom this is generally true),  and the secret to a superlative rendition lies in finding the right sense of  spaciousness without dragging. Clearly, Carlo Maria Giulini and the Vienna  Philharmonic are up to the challenge. The tempos are majestic, but the music  presses forward inexorably to huge, brass-laden climaxes. It's all captured in  gorgeous sound, too.--David Hurwitz