Despite Living Stage’s claim that these “superb sound mono recordings” are presented in a “new remastering to 24 bit for high presence and greater spatial definition,” the fact is that it’s easier to change a frog into a prince than to make poor original source material sound good. Every transfer I’ve encountered of these performances–including this one–suffers from overall metallic ambience, grungy distortion at loud moments, and skewed balances. The Third Symphony especially suffers from sloppy orchestral execution, provincial slow-downs and speed-ups instigated by our podium hero, plus his unstinting allegiance to corrupt texts. There’s lovely, expressive string playing throughout the Fifth, and the important massed brass sequences are appropriately weighty and resonant, but the source tape warbles are pretty hard to endure. If you must have Knappertsbusch in these symphonies, seek out his studio Vienna Philharmonic versions instead.
