It’s a pity that Bruno Walter never had a chance to make a stereo recording of the Symphonie fantastique: it was one of his signature pieces, and more than a couple of his renditions from the 78-era have come down to us. This NBC Symphony recording from 1939, marvelously well restored by Arbiter, certainly belongs in the collection of anyone who cares about this piece. It simply oozes character. The playing isn’t perfect (there are some obvious mishaps toward the end of the March to the Scaffold), but Walter’s interpretation is dynamite, with a hugely flexible range of tempo in the first movement, a deliciously slow and schmaltzy waltz, a “scene in the country” that for once won’t make you yearn for the excitement of city life, and an absolutely roof-raising finale (with pianos underpinning the church bells).
As noted, the sound is remarkably clear and present for its provenance, not perfectly balanced but very enjoyable with a much wider dynamic range than expected. The Ravel Rapsodie espagnole (dating from a year later), despite inaudible castanets and dimmer sound overall, makes a substantial bonus–not as high-powered a vision of the work as some, but certainly sparkling and elegant, and very lovingly shaped and phrased. It’s also among the few pieces of evidence we have of Walter’s work in the music of Ravel, and so doubly valuable for collectors of this conductor. In sum, anyway you look at it, this disc’s a keeper.
