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Title: An even finer Ninth
Review: This makes the fifth recording of the Ninth by Furtwaengler which I own, and it is the tautest and most rugged version I know. It also has the most subtle opening of the First Movement. Instead of a motoric buzzing, this version opens with a hazy mist of sound, like clouds gradually forming and breaking into a crushing clap of thunder. The Scherzo is subtler in its tempo contrasts, the Adagio seems to flow more (the timing is about the same as the other versions), and the Ode to Joy is unbearably touching in its Heaven-Storming way. Outside of some flutter in the winds, the recorded sound is good, though not outstanding, unlike the Philharmonia version on Tahra. Yet, I think this would be my desert-island Ninth.
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