In a moving note Georg Tintner passionately argues the case for Bruckner’s original (1887) version of No. 8, fresh and spontaneous. The result is an intense, keenly concentrated reading, with total dedication in the playing which rises to supreme heights in the long Adagio slow movement, where the refined pianissimo playing of the Irish orchestra is magically caught by the Naxos engineers. Even for those with rival versions, this makes a very necessary recommendation, particularly when the two-disc package brings so generous and revealing a coupling as the D minor Symphonie (Die Hullte) in a very good performance. Tintner powerfully brings out the Brucknerian qualities in embryo, and again he is served very well by the Irish orchestra.