Bruno Walter's best-known recording of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, "Choral," is undoubtedly his 1959 session with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, which has been reissued many times by CBS and Sony. Yet in 1947, Walter made an important recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which was released in 1980 by the Bruno Walter Society and was digitally restored in 2010 by Music & Arts. This document reveals the conductor at the peak of his expressive powers and offers a vigorous interpretation of ...
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Bruno Walter's best-known recording of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, "Choral," is undoubtedly his 1959 session with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, which has been reissued many times by CBS and Sony. Yet in 1947, Walter made an important recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which was released in 1980 by the Bruno Walter Society and was digitally restored in 2010 by Music & Arts. This document reveals the conductor at the peak of his expressive powers and offers a vigorous interpretation of this symphony, despite various problems of reproduction and audio repairwork that are inevitable in a recording of this vintage. One can appreciate the strength and power of the music quite well, and the forcefulness of the performance clearly comes through, despite the extremely compressed monaural sound and some off and on whirring or slight crackling noises. Furthermore, analog hiss has been eliminated, without much loss to the frequency range. Anyone who admires Walter and...
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