 | Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D Minor Op. 125 In High Resolution 24bit/96k Normal 16bit/44k resolution also included in download Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth Höngen Hans Hopf, Otto Edelmann Bayreuth Festival Orchestra - 1951 $13 | ||
This performance does not have the ferocious intensity that the March 1942 performance has. Nothing else does. However, it does have many other qualities. It is a very different interpretation in a very different occasion. This one expresses grim determination in the first movement, being cataclysmic rather than heroic. There is ecstasy in the last movement, rather than a frightening atmosphere. It is a performance that is extremely consistent internally, something almost always present in Furtwängler performances. While it is a more conventional interpretation that the 1942 one, it is certainly not conventional compared to what other conductors do.
Also, this performance has good sound, although the chorus is very distant. I am proud to have improved this situation considerably.
The soloists are superb, but then Furtwängler always commanded the best for his Ninths.
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