(5 out of 5 stars) As my introduction to the Bruckner Fifth, I listened to three different recordings to compare them: the 1953 reading by Furtwängler and the Vienna Philharmonic, Furtwängler s 1942 recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, and this, Gunther Wand s 1996 live performance with the Berlin Philharmonic.
Wand s album here is really a magnificent acheivement. To begin with, this may be the best recording of an orchestra that I ve ever heard. This is demonstration quality audio, to say the least, the Berliners playing thundering from the speakers with all of its nuances captured in the right balance. The orchestral playing and the recording are so breathtaking, you d want to hear this disc for them alone.