As with many of the BBC Legends issues, it seems clear enough who the target audience is. Beechamites will want to acquire this recording as a matter of course, and for serious students of the Ninth, this is the only opportunity to hear it performed by one of the most fascinating conductors of the 20th Century. ’Nuff said. – FANFARE: Richard A. Kaplan

By 1952 the Philharmonia Orchestra, in its seven years of existence, had evolved into one of Europe's finest ensembles. Its reputation was in many respects consolidated by Herbert von Karajan's role as music director and orchestra builder, and was further shaped by legendary guest conductors Richard Strauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Victor de Sabata, and Sir Thomas Beecham, and emerging podium figures such as Guido Cantelli, Issay Dobrowen, Igor Markevitch, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Carlo Maria Giulini. Otto Klemperer's long, productive Indian Summer at the helm of the Philharmonia lay just ahead. - Jet Distler, ClassicsToday.com

The Music & Arts label has released a historic recording of Beethoven's "Emperor Concerto" from 1945, with Artur Rother conducting, surprisingly in then experimental stereo sound. There is also the faint sound during the performance of distant Royal Airforce Lancaster and Halifax bombers dropping bombs and German anti-aircraft guns shooting. (The RAF attacked at night, during the concert, while the Americans bombed in the daytime.) This, plus the startling presence of stereo, in one of the first stereo recordings, and a performance that is considered magnificent, makes for an unsual combination of art and history. - Music & Arts

Comparing RCA's new Reiner Mussorgsky Pictures SACD to its previous Living Stereo CD incarnation is similar to the experience of viewing a television screen after wiping away accumulated dust. Everything appears clearer, with enhanced detail and impact. The noticeably improved stereo separation creates a solid, three-dimensional effect–even though this is the two-channel version. [Editor's Note: The three-channel remastering is equally successful, and even more vibrant overall.] Listen to The Old Castle and hear the precise placement of instrumental groups in the sound picture, especially the percussion, with its crisp cymbals and powerful, punchy bass drum. This is even more the case in The Hut on Fowls Legs, where the strings take on a newly detailed articulation. In the Great Gate of Kiev you can now hear the fabled Chicago brass sound in its full, unrestrained splendor. The remaining selections are just as impressive sonically. But of course, marveling at the sound quality of these 40-year-old recordings is only a secondary consideration. Reiner's magnificent and still-unequalled performances remain the real reason for acquiring this disc. For newcomers, these new SACD transfers should remove any hesitations regarding sound quality, while veterans will feel an old romance rekindled. – Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com

Mahler - Barshai : Symphony No. 10 (Recon. Barshai) & 5
Classical | 2CD | FLAC (Tracks) + CUE + LOG | HQ Complete Scans | 780MB
Publisher: Brilliant Classics

Rudolf Barshai's Mahler Fifth earned a "10" for artistic quality when it first appeared on Laurel Records, and its reappearance at budget price, more readily available, should win this magnificent performance many more friends. But the main event here has to be Barshai's own orchestration of the unfinished Tenth Symphony, heavily scored for a huge orchestra that doesn't sound especially Mahlerian (at this stage in his career Mahler's own scoring would have been much leaner and more economical), but nevertheless played to the hilt by Barshai and his remarkable youth ensemble.

The first movement in particular has the most hair-raisingly terrifying climax that anyone has ever achieved from this music. Part of the effect may derive from Barshai's fuller instrumentation and bolder dynamics, and you can't help but notice the date of this live performance: September 12, 2001. Whatever the reason, the entire reading has tremendous intensity and conviction, though as with all arrangers of this work Barshai hasn't quite solved the problem of the finale's quick middle section and the return of the first-movement climax–nor perhaps (at this stage of composition) had Mahler. Also, despite enthusiastic and committed playing from the orchestra, the ensemble is a touch less steady than in the Fifth (nothing serious, just noted in comparison), and the sonics are a bit more opaque. Never mind: this is essential listening for Mahlerians and is self-recommending, particularly at the Brilliant Classics price. – David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Guido Cantelli - Artist Profile
Classical | 2CD | FLAC (Img) + CUE + LOG | Complete Scans | 650MB
Publisher: EMI Classics 1994

"There must be many Gramophone readers who cut their musical teeth on these recordings, and whose abilities to re-assess first loves will be challenged afresh by EMI's skilful transfers…the Mozart items are excellent, with a trim, nicely buoyed A Musical Joke (the multiple raspberry at the end of the Presto has genuine comic-strip impact) and a finely proportioned Symphony No. 29. Schubert's Unfinished is forward-moving and beautifully drawn, while Franck's D minor (recorded, believe it or not, within a week of Toscanini's final broadcast) has an imperious gait that trades Franco-Belgian exuberance for Teutonic weight. It is imposing but also rather earthbound. The recordings themselves are admirable, while well-balanced stereophony confirms Cantelli's Toscanini-style orchestral positioning, with antiphonally placed violins." – Gramophone (11/1994)