Happy days

Classica D'Oro just released cheap transfers of Bruckner's 8th and 9th conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler in 1944. As I had neither, I bought the 9th first (I have both 1949 recordings of the 8th) to sample and was pleasantly surprised. This is among the greatest 9th available - though I cannot say that it is the "greatest." It certainly has a searing intensity missing in many other interpretations. The sound is perhaps somewhat over-Cedarized and closed in at parts, but it is clear and worth a listen for the paltry $7 asking price for those who do not have the recording yet. I'll be buying the 8th soon.