SOMM Recordings is proud to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of legendary conductor Rudolf Kempe (1910 - 1976) by re-issuing his 1971 ex-libris stereo recording, which was first released in 2000. This performance of Kempe conducting the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in the Symphony No. 8 in C Minor by Anton Bruckner was recorded at the Zürich Tonhalle Studios, and it now features state-of-the-art remastering by Lani Spahr.Kempe served as the Chief Conductor of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich from 1965 - 1972, and this rare recording of Bruckner's Eighth Symphony is an important memorial of his tenure. His sudden death at the age of 65 in May 1976, ten months after being appointed chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London, was truly a profound shock to the world of music.Robert Matthew-Walker writes: 'Kempe's knowledge of the score - he almost invariably conducted from memory - combined with his sensitivity and deep musicianship, his experience as an orchestral player and his imaginatively flexible approach to structure and phrasing marked him out as a true master. We must profoundly regret that he did not record more Bruckner: in his hands, the Eighth Symphony is a tremendous revelation of the composer's genius, for he shows it to be one of the greatest symphonies of any period, enormously powerful, vast in conception, full of wonderful melody and orchestrated magnificently.'Bruckner's Eighth is his last completed symphony and the only one to be published before it's first performance, which took place in 1892. Two complete autograph manuscripts of the symphony exist, dating from 1887 and 1890, and there are multiple editions. The first edition, containing some relatively minor changes from the 1890 manuscript, was the version used at the first performance. The Austrian musicologist, Robert Haas, took what he admired from Bruckner's different versions and combined them into his own edition. His version has proved enduringly popular, and it is the one used by Rudolf Kempe.SOMM has embraced historical recordings from it's very founding in 1995. Since it's first forays, much has changed in the field of re-issued historical performances. Most notable, for SOMM, is the label's close collaboration with audio restoration engineer and producer Lani Spahr, which began with the issue of a four-CD set, Elgar Remastered, in 2016 and has since produced a multitude of critically acclaimed recordings. Gramophone has noted, 'There are historic releases that make the grade because they are just that - 'historic' - and there are releases that make history because they are musically overwhelming. This set is both.'