There are certainly at least four artistically thoroughly satisfying versions of Sibelius 2 available on this site (Szell, Ormandy, Barbirolli & Monteux) and I probably have a preference for Ormandy unless I’m feeling more sentimental in which case Barbirolli, But in terms of sonics then the best recording is easily Monteux. I love the top ranking recordings presented here from the late 50’s and 60’s because of their rich tone and, when remastered in high resolution digital especially DSD they give very little away to the best of modern recordings in terms of soundstage depth and width and full range frequency response. But there is normally some small allowance to be made. Not here with this Monteux recording which sounds like a master tape which was made yesterday. The depth and dimensionality to the soundstage is obvious from the first few seconds, and it’s impossible to switch it off, you just listen straight through to the end of the recording. I bought the DSD256 version and, if your equipment will replay at this sampling rate, I would recommend the investment over the FLAC or lower rate DSD versions. It has an easy quality which over time just sounds more natural, although in quick A/B comparison the FLAC files usually sound as if they have a bit more bite and resolution, but over time it’s the DSD files I go back to.
