Take the Rhenish, for example, which receives a performance for the ages. In the opening movement the clarified textures (note the added brass bringing out the canonic wind parts in the first theme's counterstatement) and fleet tempos carry the music along as if self-propelled. Even the great horn call toward the end isn't just blasted out, but instead is phrased and shaded in a way that adds character without a trace of affectation. Barenboim's handling of the (from a purely formal standpoint) dysfunctional development section completely dispels any suggestion of that "Aren't we wandering around in circles?" phenomenon that traps lesser versions in a quagmire of repetitive tedium. The fourth movement has immense grandeur, while the foursquare finale sports uncommon grace and buoyancy.

In the Fourth Symphony the lyrical response to the first movement's motto theme offers a veritable clinic on how to use rubato without breaking the long line (as Thielemann invariably does, for example); and Furtwängler himself could learn a lesson from the transition to a finale that for once doesn't suffer a major loss of tension as it heads into its sequential second subject, thanks in part to exquisite dynamic shading. Time and again, Barenboim shows his unerring sense of finding just the right tempo, whether it's the First Symphony's scherzo, the Second Symphony's Adagio, or the Rhenish Symphony's second movement. But within the basic framework there's a whole world of expression, with strings rich toned but always willing to yield the floor to the winds, and carefully edited timpani parts that always register firmly but never cloud Schumann's thickly scored climaxes. Sectional balances are as poised and "right" sounding as the tempos. How else to explain that pellucid, inner glow that Barenboim achieves throughout the Spring Symphony?

Indeed, the Staatskapelle Berlin is every bit as much the star of this show as is Barenboim, playing with the same pride and dedication as their Dresden colleagues did for Sawallisch or the Clevelanders for Szell, but with a richer bass than the former and a more warmly rounded sonority than the latter (though of course the glorious recorded sound helps enormously). If you love these symphonies then you simply must own this set--it contains music making of true "golden age" greatness and once more demonstrates that a questing musical mind allied to abundant talent and technical proficiency always will find something new in the classics.