Pierre Boulez - Handel: Water Music; Royal Fireworks Music - Expanded Edition (1975/2003)

This reading has a weighty and slow melt feel - the kind where you get some time to savor and feel the music - Slower tempo than Kleiber (Kleiber/Vienna Philharmonic/1975). The slower tempo adds a level of depth to the music but Kleiber's zippy speed adds a level of excitement. With the fast speed that Kleiber employs, there has to be precision and intensity in the attacks which Kleiber employs flawlessly. Bruno Walter uses the approach of a slower tempo which feels like you are getting more to the pulp of the music. This has pretty good sound recording quality. All the orchestra can be heard in a wholesome way. The reading by Bruno Walter is something special - solid and robust like a column of granite - wholesome stuff.

A definitive 5th and great readings of the overtures: Egmont & Coriolan. With the superlative 5th and great renditions of the overture, this is a great purchase. A little gem on this CD is the last track on the CD. This is a recording of Bruno Walter rehearsing the first movement of the 5th symphony. It is insightful to hear Bruno Walter correct the orchestra and stress on how the opening bars should be played and say "it is sometimes played like this and this is not correct". He stops the orchestra, gives directions, and asks certain soloists to replay a section to get it to his vision of the piece. This should be in your Beethoven collection even if you have several Beethoven symphony cycles or you are starting out with your Beethoven collection.