Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 - New World / Sibelius: Symphony, No. 2

Paul Paray was an appealing artist who achieved wonders with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in the late 1950s. His interpretations were swift, lean, elegant, and sharply focused. It's a style of conducting that has all but vanished today, and these two performances bear eloquent testimony to his talent as an interpreter. It's common knowledge that tempos have been getting slower over the course of this century, though no one knows exactly why. Paray's recordings hark back to an earlier style of conducting, and they do it in very good sound. Unique and compelling. --David Hurwitz