This disc proves conclusively that the DanteSymphony, a contemporary of the Faust Symphony, no longer needs its apologists. Tone, full and rounded, firm and true, and rocksteady pacing elevate the opening beyond its all-too familiar resemblance to a third-rate horror-film soundtrack. As the work progresses, together with the countless examples of Berlin tone and artistry filling out, refining or shaping gestures in often revelatory ways, one becomes aware of Barenboim's skill in maintaining the large-scale tension he's created.
As for the final choral Magnificat, if Liszt owed Wagner a debt of gratitude for persuading him to conclude the symphony with the 'noble and softly soaring' bars that precede a more noisily affirmative appended coda, in Barenboim's Magnificat (and much else in the symphony), it's Wagner's debt to Liszt that's more readily apparent; the Parsifalian radiance of these final pages is unmistakable. More importantly, for once they sound convincingly conclusive. The live recording is spacious, focused and expertly balanced.
The Dante Sonata was recorded with the kind of risk-taking abandon and occasionally less than perfect execution that you might expect from a live event. Improvisatory, impulsive and full of extreme contrasts, Barenboim's Dante Sonata is vividly pictorial. The instrument itself (closely miked and widely spaced) sounds larger than life. This recording is riveting.