Runnicles conducts Bruckner 8

Sir Donald Runnicles, a leading conductor of late Romantic repertoire, joins the Philharmonia in its 80th birthday season for one of Bruckner’s great symphonies.

Two movements of Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony are marked ‘Feierlich’ – ceremonial – and indeed a live performance of this 80-minute work can feel like a musical ceremony, even a spiritual journey. Writing in the 1920s, an American critic described it as ‘a world of deep breaths and far vistas and profound experience.’

Over a career spanning half a century, Scottish conductor Donald Runnicles has built an international reputation among musicians, critics and audience members alike, specialising in the large-scale, no-holds-barred repertoire of the late Romantic period. This is the first opportunity to hear him conduct the Philharmonia in London, following an acclaimed debut with the orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival.