Naxos are reissuing the 'classic' Ferrier/Walter 1952 DLVDE next month
in direct competiton to the Decca issue.  Will be interesting to see how
the sound compares.  I think this recording is overrated.

The VPO sounds scrawny and occasionally ill-tuned. The strings have an
ugly edge to them.  The voices are ridiculously far forward, making
Ferrier sound a bit aggressive.

Far better is the 1936 live Walter DLVDE which you can hear on www.naxos.com.
The sound is actaully truer than the 1952.

EVEN better, If you can find it, is the Walter 1951(?) DLVDE whihc
the Philharmonic Society orchestra, which I suspect is really the NYPO.
The sound is easily the best of the three and the NYPO plays the pants
of the VPO.  The comparison is bit emarrasing really as the Americans
are so far better. The New York soloists are fine (Set Svanholm, Elena
Nikolaidi) too.

Interesting to see how Naxos is issuing key recordings like the Decca
DLVDE, 1951 bayreuth Meistersinger and 1951 Parsifal though.  Hopefully
some Furtwangler will be on the way too ...

David Harbin
Nottingham, UK