John Halbrooks mentions that he has bought a selection of Lupu, Brendel
and Richter.  After some time you'll find that you'll prefer only Brendel
and Richter (at least that is my experience).  About Schubert's Ninth
Symphony: I started to buy Mackerras conducting the Orchestra of the Age
of Enlightenment and I liked it very much.  After this one I bought Wand's
version with the NDR Orch.  and later on the same conductor with the Berlin
Philharmonic.  Very well played.  But then I heard the Furtwangler CD (DG
The Originals) and now there is no better version for me.  The playing is
superb, the conducting beyond any description and the mono sound is very
well focused.  It makes a splendid deal together with the Haydn 88 (not
known to me before), another gem.Well, to go back to Schubert: Furtwangler
gives the symphony "a momentum" that you cannot compare with the versions
I have heard.

Reynier Bordes