In 1887, after three years of work, Bruckner sent the completed score of the Eighth Symphony to the conductor Hermann Levi, one of the composer’s staunchest champions, in the hope he would conduct the premiere. Levi was unable to understand the new work, however, and advised Bruckner he would be unable to perform it, prompting the composer to undertake a detailed series of revisions that took until 1890. The revised version of the symphony has been the preferred one ever since.

The 1887 version is, nevertheless, a fully realised conception by a composer at the height of his powers and is more than just a fascinating listen. The thematic material is largely the same in both versions, although there are also significant differences in various places, notably in the coda of the first movement and in the Trio of the Scherzo. The earlier version is also longer and more heavily scored, with six cymbal clashes at the climax of the Adagio rather than two in the 1890 version.

Markus Poschner’s Bruckner cycle has sometimes struggled to offer recordings that stand out in a competitive field but his performance of the 1890 score of the Eighth (1/22) was extremely fine, and happily so is this fleet, idiomatic and clear-sighted interpretation of the 1887 version. I’m inclined to think it’s the finest performance of the score now available, although for some reason the new recording has more reverberance and less clarity than previous instalments in the cycle. The informative booklet note maintains the high standard of the series.