Why, you might ask, does Decca, having Solti's brilliant digital version of this symphony in its CD catalogue already, bother to transfer a 1973 analogue recording to the new medium? As anyone will know, who has read the relevant reviews from RO, Solti's performance is powerful and superbly played, but Bohm's has the unmistakable stamp of greatness, a contrast now made the more apparent on CD. To my surprise I actually prefer the 1973 recording, made in the Sofiensaal in Vienna with its helpful acoustic; for though one can detect a whisper of tape-hiss if you put yur ear against the louspeaker, in almost every other way the sound is even more realistic and certainly warmer. There is a roundenss in the brass tone with plenty of bite and fullness but no unwanted rasp—specially important in this symphony. I now warmly have to echo RO's remark, when he reviewed the Jubilee LP reissue of the Bohm (5/82), that it is ''head of the field irrespective of price''. Some will still prefer the Solti with its faster, tauter manners, but the warmth as well as the mystery of Bruckner are far more compelling conveyed in Bohm's spacious view.'