Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

Georg Solti’s second recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony provides a monumental overview of this classic score. His measured approach to the opening movement allows the power and precision of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to fully register, and both strings and percussion bite with thrilling trenchancy in the second movement scherzo. Solti lingers lovingly over lyrical detail in the “Adagio molto,” achieving a moving profundity at the movement’s brass-capped climax. In the choral finale, soprano Jessye Norman leads the quartet of soloists imperiously, and the excellent Chicago Symphony Chorus reach heady levels of excitement as Solti’s interpretation swirls to a super-charged conclusion.