A release of absolutely bottomless worthlessness, through the dim sonics and timpani-heavy balances you can just barely make out the fact that there is nothing here that we haven’t heard before. The performance itself, at least in terms of timings, is practically identical to several other Toscanini Ninths, including his “official” RCA recording and his 1939 NBC broadcast (last heard to best effect on Naxos). Sonic limitations make it impossible to say much else: certainly what comes through the hiss, distortion, and compressed dynamics offers nothing in the way of new insights or superior technical accomplishment when compared to other, better-sounding Toscanini performances of the same work (and all of the others are better-sounding). The rating therefore reflects the value, which is essentially nil, of this recording as an addition to the Toscanini discography.
Really, a release such as this represents something of a fraud on the public: it perpetuates the myth that everything a great artist does is intrinsically interesting and potentially revelatory when in fact one of the very hallmarks of greatness is consistency over time. It assumes that the artist himself would have approved the release of a one-off public performance under less-than-ideal conditions in sub-par sound. Finally, it contributes to the already unfortunate trend among critics and music lovers to claim a vastly exaggerated significance for minuscule interpretive differences in various performances of the same works by the same artists, an anti-musical habit that has inflicted genuine harm on our musical culture. In short, this disc is a waste of your time and money in every respect, and never should have been offered for public sale. Its release is a scandal and a slur on the reputation of Arturo Toscanini. If you want to hear his way with Beethoven’s Ninth (and you should), stick with the readily available and fine sounding RCA recording.
