These Decca recordings of Brahms' Symphony No. 3 and Dvořák's Symphony No. 8, made by the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under the baton of George Szell, were made at what might be seen as the dawn of the modern era of hi-fi recording in 1951.
Forty years later they were described in a less-than-favourable review as "poor for their date and unpleasantly thin and shrill", and yet one of our correspondents suggests they "have long been recognized as among the most satisfying committed to disc".
Shrill or satisfying? Well this new Pristine XR remastering aims to rectify the first - and in doing so confirm the second. Warm, rich and enveloping might be words plucked out of the thesaurus for future reviews! As for satisfaction? Prepare to enjoy 67 minutes of it: this is lovely music-making indeed!