Naxos apologises in the booklet for moments of distortion in the finale (something you’re only likely to read – rather too late – once you’ve got the disc home). What they should be apologising for is the exceptionally poor quality of the discs from which the transfers have been made. Gruff and noisy is the best way to describe them. The slow movement is an obvious sufferer but there are even more severe consequences elsewhere when crucial detail (for example, the violins’ opening E) is drowned out by the racket. Add to this poor balances in the original recording whenever textures become contrapuntally complex, and you are left with precious little for your money.
As for Fried, this was his only contribution to the cycle. He conducts a brisk, no-nonsense performance culminating in an account of the finale where the bullish, often raucous singing is all too vividly caught by the microphones. He remains important as an early interpreter of Mahler on record (his 1924 recording of the Resurrection Symphony is still studied by conductors), but this Ninth is a write-off.'