Concertgebouw Orchestra plays Bruckner's Symphony No. 8

Bruckner's Symphony No. 8

Bruckner's Eighth Symphony is a mighty structure and an exciting journey from darkness to light. The world of the Eighth is complex, lovely, peaceful and turbulent – Bruckner invites you, takes you along and doesn't let you go. "Bruckner's strength is the slow development, not the fast tempo," says conductor Christian Thielemann. 'It is the same as what you experience with the sea when there are hardly any waves, an infinite horizon: the power that emanates from it is immeasurably great.'

Christian Thielemann

Christian Thielemann led the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1997 and made two successful returns. In June 2020, he was supposed to return with Bruckner's Fifth Symphony after an absence of almost 18 years, but thanks to Covid-19, it was cancelled. The German conductor is returning for the Eighth Symphony in the orchestra's Bruckner cycle. 'There are only a few orchestras that understand this composer,' says Thielemann, 'especially European orchestras, such as the Concertgebouw Orchestra, who sense this musical language, that long breath.' We look forward to this renewed collaboration!