The positives of this set are: the remarkable playing of the Vienna Philharmonic under Furtwangler’s steady, tight, action-packed, and when necessary tender hand; the sensitive, beautifully sung Florestan of Julius Patzak; Lisa Della Casa’s non-chirpy Marzelline; and the Vienna Chorus, which truly turns its big moments into epic ones. The drawbacks are the mediocre, relatively ugly-sounding Leonore of Erna Schlutter, big of voice but wayward of pitch, and the fact that numbers 5 through 8 in Act I (from Pizarro’s entrance through the Pizarro-Rocco duet) are missing. There are better, complete Furtwangler Fidelios available, and they are Schlutter-free. Look for them.
