Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6 "Pastorale"
Bruno Walter was always a most persuasive advocate of the gentler  Beethoven--at least, that's what everyone thought until his stereo Beethoven  cycle was remastered onto CD, revealing a much stronger musical profile than had  been suspected. But that just made the cycle's best performances sound better  still--and here they are, together on one midpriced CD! It's amazing that a man  in his 80s, as Walter was when these performances were recorded, could take what  was essentially a pickup orchestra and turn in performances of such power and  authority. Walter and the Columbia Symphony had a genuine chemistry between  them--they play these two symphonies as if they had been making music together  for years.--David Hurwitz