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Review by mwgfrg September 29, 2010 (8 of 10 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics: |
This famous performance is almost as old and as revered as the Munch, and is one of my very favorite recordings. No one ever balanced the "fantastique" and classical symphonic aspects of this piece better than Davis does here, and the playing of the Concertgebouw is a constant joy. In case you are curious how this latest version compares to the prior Japanese Universal release and the Pentatone, I find it the best of the three. The Pentatone might be a bit smoother and rounder, which made it slightly preferable to the first Universal, but the SHM-SACD is extraordinary in its clarity--every last detail emerges effortlessly (although perhaps--after two listenings I'm not entirely sure--with a tad less bass). The Pentatone is definitely the best buy, but this one is probably the best-sounding release ever, even including the British-pressed LP, which was vastly preferable to the Dutch.
Oh, yes, a last caveat: the packaging truly sucks. The stiff paper/cardboard liner as opposed to plastic isn't too terrible, but whatever marketing moron thought to make it a quarter inch taller than regular CD packages should be doomed to spend eternity going from record collection to record collection fixing the problems this causes. Not a deal-breaker for me, but it might well be for someone else.
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