As a recording this newcomer is arguably the finest of the three CD versions now on the market, with well-defined detail and impressive body and presence. However, the LPO strings are less sumptuous in tone or sophisticated in colour than either of the rivals listed above, and if sheer beauty of orchestral sound is a first consideration, the VPO who are also well recorded will be a first choice. Tennstedt's reading is plain and unadorned. Edward Greenfield compared it, when reviewing the LP version, with the Klemperer LP on HMV and it has something of his integrity and directness. The first movement is broad and spacious in approach (and at times some listeners may find it a bit laboured and wanting is tension). Both Bernstein (DG) and Giulini (also DG) invest detail with more loving care—perhaps too much so for all tastes—but there is nobility in each, and magnificent orchestral playing too!
Tennstedt's is an honest and sober account rather than an inspired one and readers who do not respond to either Bernstein or Giulini may well be tempted, particularly in view of the excellence of the recorded sound. I must confess that in spite of its feverish intensity and its agogic excesses, my admiration for the Bernstein has increased since I reviewed it earlier this year.'