Search - a. Bruckner :: Symphony 9

Matchless.

Howard G Brown | Port St. Lucie, FL USA | 08/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Listen to this, and you will wonder why the industry ever bothered with stereo. Rich, warm, beautifully focussed with a real sense of depth -- unfortunately, the lps never sounded this good. For a number of years now, CDs have been revealing riches in the recordings of the 50s in particular, that were not available in the original vinyl issues. Perhaps it was in the grade of vinyl used at the time or the vagueries of the RIAA equalization curve -- you name it. I doubt even the best playback equipment back then revealed as much as this CD pours forth through an average system of today.



Fortunately, I got my copy when it was readily available, and attractively priced. The current asking price is high. One can bite the bullet, pay up and enjoy it now -- or hope it will be re-issued, one fine day.



The perfomance closely matches that of the 8th Symphony van Beinum recorded a year earlier (1955) in heroic stature and the sense of forward momentum. The timings of each movement are close to those of Furtwangler, Walter, Jochum, and Tintner in their recordings.

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