This live Ninth Symphony contrasts to the conductor’s studio version in its more broadly paced first and third movements and its seemingly more jaunty finale. Moreover, the second movement (only its first repeat observed) suffers from overly amplified timpani whose rhythmic profile does not quite seem to match that of the same motif executed by the other instruments. In short, this is a reading that is primarily valuable for demonstrating that the conductor’s view of the work was not carved in stone. Note, too, that the total timing of these two discs exceeds the capacity of a single CD by only eight minutes.

Mortimer H. Frank, FANFARE