In Sunday’s (8/1) Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Zachary Lewis writes, “As the Cleveland Orchestra and music director Franz Welser-Möst prepare to perform and record Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 in C Minor this month at Severance Hall, it’s worth taking a moment to explore the version of the score they’re playing. For this will be no typical Bruckner concert, but rather a rare presentation of the 1887 ‘original’ version, the newest, longest and least well-known of four different editions … Until now, no major conductor has championed or recorded this version of the piece, published in 1972, which Welser-Möst and others claim reflects the composer’s true wishes before he and others made changes. ‘This is pretty huge for the Bruckner community,’ said assistant conductor Tito Muñoz, who’ll be covering for the director at performances Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 11 and 12. … But while Welser-Möst is concentrating on the 1887 edition, the other versions are interesting and worthy in their own right, featuring noticeable differences and offering keen insight into performance traditions and the composer’s methods. ‘It’s probably the most well-documented Bruckner symphony,’ Muñoz said. ‘We’re able to actually see the process of his composition between the different versions.’ ”
Posted August 5, 2010
