Customer Reviews

Symphony 8

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony are at the absolute height of their powers in this phenomenal recording from 1971. This is (no exaggeration) surely one of the most incredibly accurate and exhilirating orchestral performances put on disk, and the soloists (including masters like Lucia Popp and Arleen Auger) could not have been bettered. This is one of my most treasured disks, and it makes the piece sound like one of the great choral/orchestral works of all time.

There is no question about the quality of this performance, indeed, it is one of the grammophone's most impressive achievements with great singing, engineering that still sounds close to state of the art, orchestral playing that is truly spectacular and a conductor who achieves an electrifying and intensely dramatic reading. You may, however, choose to save yourself some money by obtaining this performance on Decca's Legendary Performances series (available, at this writing, from Amazon for $10.99). The engineers have slightly improved the sound quality on the Legends version and they have managed to get everything on a single disc.