I haven't heard Celi's Bruckner but I know that Simon Rattle's recording
of the Seventh is pretty extraordinary.  His phrasing is more detailed than
most Brucknerian conductors - he attempts to give a definite shape to every
paragraph.  He also does an amazing job of clarifying orchestral textures.
Some have found the Scherzo a little too relaxed - more elegant and
Viennese than upper Austrian - but I found it convincing.

Giulini's VPO Eighth is my favourite symphonic recording.  It's very slow
(at 87 minutes using the Nowak edition) but the tempo is sustained with an
almost religious conviction.  His sense of large-scale phrasing is just
glorious and the VPO play as if their very souls depended on it.  Terrific
stuff.

Brian Blackwell