Review: This rare concert performan

Review: This rare concert performance of Bruckner's 8TH, in accordance with Walter's views of the music of Bruckner, tends to concentrate on melodic contour, not at the expense of structure, but in search of expressive communication. Walter's uses for this performance the first (1892) printed edition of the 8th, conserving numerous performance indications for shaping the score based on that edition, indications mostly absent from later critical editions. Of course, Walter's interpretation goes way beyond the score for expressive underlining; rhetorical emphasis was fundamental to his approach, strongly influenced by his years in Vienna. The unique broadcast aircheck from which this CD derives was lovingly restored by engineer Aaron Snyder whose recent restorations of war-time Jochum recordings on Music & Arts were praised by BBC Magazine and other trade journals. Liner notes by Bruckner authority Mark Kluge.