Leonard Bernstein was the first conductor ever to record all of Mahler's symphonies not only on disk, but also on video. The leading Mahler interpreter of the time, Bernstein recorded all of Mahler's symphonies between 1971 and 1985, producing a unique musical document and triggering a major reappreciation of Mahler's works. This recording of the Eighth Symphony was filmed at the Konzerthaus Vienna; with Edda Moser, Judith Blegen, Gerti Zeumer, Ingrid Mayr, Agnes Baltsa, Kenneth Riegel, Hermann Prey and José van Dam, the Chorus of the Vienna State Opera, the Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, the Vienna Boys' Choir and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. "All Mahler symphonies, all Mahler works for that matter, deal in extremes, extremes of dynamic, of tempo, of emotional meaning. When it is bare, it's extremely bare, when it is thick and rich, it's thicker and richer than anything in 'Götterdämmerung', and when it is suffering it suffers to a point that no music has ever suffered before." (Leonard Bernstein)