Eugen Jochum conducts the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in Bruckner's Symphony No.5, a gigantic musical cathedral and a masterpiece of counterpoint. Everything is prayer, everything is contemplation, everything is a state of grace. With this concert performance on May 30, 1964, Jochum set the bar for this ''Katholische Sinfonie." The recoding also includes his reading of the composer's Te Deum, leading the Berlin Philharmonic.

Gilels had immense physical power and impeccable control, but he was also capable of exquisitely refined poetry and had an acute perception of the lyrical impulse lying behind even the most assertive of Brahms's writing. The firmness of attack and the depth of sound that make his (and the Berlin Philharmonic's) playing so thrillingly dynamic can be offset by the most poignant of delicate gestures. There is undeniable grandeur to these readings, but with those additional qualities of wise thinking, generous expression and artistry of great subtlety, these performances are in a class of their own.

…Luckily not only Arias and Choruses are featured but also two trial scenes [nos. 21 and 23] which give you the chance to hear the phenomenally powerful evangelist Ernst Haefliger - stunning! The other soloists are very good to excellent - Walter Berry [Jesus], Agnes Giebel, Marga Hoffgen and Franz Crass. An important feature is the great sound of the recording – surprisingly clear for its "age", and with the full and rich sound of large scale forces, supported by is a "full size" organ in the continuo, it all combines to a very "lush" and strong projection.

this recording of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana was authorized by the composer himself. It follows, therefore, that the present recording met with the high requirements of the composer himself and so represents an unusual collector's item. Orff intended not just to copy the medieval lyrics but to express the mood of that era. His highly rhythmic compositional style reflects the archaic character of the vocal line. The listener experiences not only the vital primordial pulse of the music in this thrilling interpretation but also the mystery of Fate through the tender lyrical passages. Orff's homage to wine, women and song of the Middle Ages, closely bound up with spring and love, is supported by balanced and precise sound technology. The listener is spirited away to the musical world of Carmina Burana by this recording.