Arturo Toscanini / NBC Symphony

Beethoven: The Nine Symphonies. NBC Symphony, 1939 (Relief CR-1894-2, 6 CDs; also available separately). A committee of Mensa (whose membership is restricted to the top two percent of IQs) recently voted Toscanini's brittle 1950s studio set of Beethoven symphonies the best classical recording of all time, thereby proving that intellect and musical appreciation don't always coincide. The Relief set is the vastly superior 1939 NBC broadcast cycle which, together with the 1933/6 New York Philharmonic Fifth and Seventh Symphonies (on Pearl CDS 9373) is as close as we will ever get to Toscanini's celebrated mastery of this acid test of conducting. Portions of the 1939 cycle are included on three of the RCA CDs: the Symphony # 3 (on 60269), the Egmont and Leonora # 2 Overtures (on 60267) and the Leonora # 3 Overture (on 60255). Despite occasional surface noise, the fidelity is decent and the balance is better than on the later studio remakes; the performances are overwhelming.


Arturo Toscanini conducts Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the NBC Orchestra （New York City, 3/4/1948）