Wiener Philharmoniker, Carlo Maria Giulini - Bruckner: Symphony No.8 (1994)

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