Dohnányi realises all aspects of this extraordinary work, both its gaunt grandeur…and its warmth and fragility…the sublime third movement has everything, including that terrifying last climax, which builds to so brutal a dissonance that no other composer has matched it since. The uneasy dying away after the awe-struck silence is perfectly managed…[the performance] is one of the most powerful that the whole literature of music can provide.

[Christoph von Dohnányi] secures playing of exceptional transparency and expressiveness from [the Philharmonia]. Dynamics and balance are perfectly judged throughout, allowing details of the score to be heard that are often masked in other performances…[this] new recording is distinguished by the clarity with which it presents Bruckner's score as well as the excellence of its sound.

Dohnányi’s is a considerable performance in its own right. The Philharmonia plays very well for a conductor who they clearly and rightly esteem.