Mein Gott! Now it's Schubert Blogging

The local classical station is running a recording of Schubert's 9th Symphony as performed by John Eliot Gardiner and the Vienna Philharmonic. As if the piece wasn't long enough already, Gardiner actually takes the repeat in the first movement. (I'm live-blogging this. He's making up time by rushing some other bits.)

Although as a general rule, I don't care much about Schubert's symphonic music one way or the other, I actually enjoy this piece a great deal. It's way too big and sloppy for its structure, but it has some good ideas. (I once described it as a suit made of excellent material but badly tailored.)

For my money, the best performance available is by Sir Georg Solti and the Vienna. And by that, I mean this is one of the best symphonic performances of anything I've ever heard. Solti has the orchestra absolutely under control and the nuance he's able to pull out of it is, well, what I imagine J. Francois Kerry always dreams of.

UPDATE: Gardiner kinda steamrolls a couple of spots in the second movement.

FURTHER UPDATE: The fourth movement seems rather rushed. Not necessarily too fast, just rushed.

FINAL UPDATE: Not bad, but I think I'll stick with Solti.