Walter Meyer ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>Renato Vinicius wrote:
>
>>I bought the recording with Toscanini and the NBC Orq.(1939) and also,
>>in an other CD symph.  nr 3 and 5.  I bought them believing I would like
>>a lot, once so many friends and listeners praised them.  Surprisingly -
>>for me - I didn't like them.
>
>Maybe you should try the 1953 Ninth and the other Beethoven symphonies
>rerecorded about that time.

With all due respect, Walter, if he finds the 1930s Toscanini stiff and
unyielding, he's unlikely to enjoy the 1950s remakes more.  From what I've
heard, Toscanini was much more interesting before the war - although one
wonders whether the fawning adulation he received in the USA may have had
something to do with this; certainly his 1952 Brahms symphony cycle with
the Philharmonia (has anyone seent the Testmanet issue yet) are far
superior to his NBC SO recordings, and more or less contemporaneous.

Deryk Barker
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