As I've come to expect from hdtt, this reissue makes what was already a very good recording for its time even better. You don't need me to tell you It's a great performance. As most readers of this review will know, Munch made two recordings of this symphony with the BSO, the other in 1962. I have resolved the confusion in my previous review: this is indeed the 1954 version.
I have that other performance on a Sony two-disc reisssue that includes the complete Roméo et Juliette. It sounds pretty good, but not as pure and transparent as this hdtt of the 1954. Comparing the two performances, I find myself agreeing with Ralph Moore, Jonathan Woolf, and David Hurwitz (three people who don't tend to agree with each other) that 1962 is marginally preferable. Before looking at these reviews, I came to the conclusion that 1962 is more coherent without losing the wildness of the sudden contrasts, though 1954 is more extreme in this respect. 1962 is actually slower than 1954, mainly in movements 1, 3, and 5--the waltz and the Marche au supplice are pretty close to the same. But in the first movement and the very long 3rd, 1954 feels slower, perhaps because the contrasting sections are not as organically bound together.
Well, hdtt has the 1962 as well, So, as Woolf put it, why choose when you can have both? I'll be picking up the hdtt version in my next order.
Budget Compact Disc (No Jewel Box only Disc)
