Deutsche Grammophon's new SACD transfer brings added presence and impact to Herbert von Karajan's 1962 Beethoven Ninth--the best of his three stereo efforts. Karajan's focused drive continues to impress even today--the first movement launches with a clear trajectory that carries through to the powerful final bars, and picks up again with a brisk and biting scherzo. The finale's opening is better balanced here than on the conductor's later efforts, which give too much prominence to the woodwinds. Karajan's traditional approach makes for a ponderous middle section ("Seid umschlungen"), but this was pretty much how it was done in those days. What was more uncommon was the Berlin Philharmonic's polished, virtuoso playing, as well as Karajan's smooth, streamlined phrasing, qualities that make his rendition a bit less gripping than the somewhat grittier renditions by Szell, Bernstein, or Wand. DG's spacious recording, made in Berlin's Jesus Christus Kirche, captures the full range of the orchestra with admirable fidelity--especially the low end, with the double basses resounding with greater immediacy in the new format. An eminently collectable performance, and not just for Karajan fans.

--Victor Carr Jr