Virtanen Jukka wrote: >At least 2.symphony and Faust are marvellous. The critics think different >but I prefer him to Gardiner and Abbado(Faust). I love the packaging too. I'm a big Herreweghe fan and agree about his Schumann. However, Abbado's Faust is good also, and Abbado does bring greater expressiveness to the performance than Herreweghe. The question is whether a listener wants that extra expression. I can go either way, so I consider the two performances complimentary. Concerning the packaging of the Herreweghe Faust, I didn't like it at all. It had a large "box" cover that was much too big for the contents. I threw it out the day I bought it - just took up too much room. As for Herreweghe, I've heard mention of his new Beethoven 9th. Has this disc been released in the U.S. yet? "Donald Satz" <[log in to unmask]>