Carlo Maria Giulini - The Chicago Recordings (2004)

The recordings that Giulini made with the Chicago Symphony between 1969 and 1976 document an extraordinary partnership and remain among the finest of the conductor's career. Giulini's Mahler First is more lyric than most, yet with enough energy to satisfy Mahlerians; the last movement a tribute to the conductor's unerring sense of orchestral balances even in crushing climaxes. His rendition of the orchestral movements of Berlioz's "dramatic symphony" Romeo and Juliet excels in its poetry, the warmly caressing Chicago strings in the Love Scene irresistible. The Beethoven Seventh is an eloquent blend of the Dionysian and Apollonian approaches to this "dance symphony," with glowing horns, driving rhythms and lovely solo turns. Giulini's later remakes of the Beethoven and other works in the set often were soporific; here, he's on target. This Bruckner Ninth, for example, is grandly rhetorical but full of passion. The Brahms Fourth is a highly personal account, with a ravishing slow movement, while the Stravinsky ballet suites reveal the Chicagoans at their most refined; the Firebird exquisitely colored, Petrushka, amazingly precise. Classic recordings, well transferred; a bargain that shouldn't be missed. --Dan Davis