I can’t tell if Urania’s edition of the Bruno Walter/NBC Symphony Bruckner Fourth broadcast stems from the same lacquer discs used for Seth Winner’s superb transfer on Pearl. All I can say is that Urania’s transfer is vastly inferior and should be avoided like the plague. Not that the original source is a sonic wonder, with its boxy ambience and limited dynamic range. Even by the 78 era’s low-fi standard, Karl Böhm’s Dresden Bruckner Fourth from the 1930s boasts more robust sound and realistic orchestral balances. Moreover, Walter’s hard-driven conducting and the NBC Symphony’s raw playing, though superficially exciting, are light years removed from the spacious warmth and eloquence characterizing the conductor’s stereo recording. Not even excellent and responsive playing from the New York Philharmonic can lure our ears past the poor sound of this 1944 Wagner Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. If you crave a vintage Prelude and Liebestod, the impassioned Mengelberg broadcast is in far better sound. And I continue to be mesmerized by the tensile lyricism and controlled freedom of Toscanini’s 1942 studio recording (available on Pearl GEMS 0024). While Urania has brought out fascinating material for historic-recording mavens, you’d be nuts to endure this disc’s execrable production values. Don’t waste your money.
