Wilhelm Furtwängler leads the musicians of the Bayreuth Festival deep into the spiritual heart of Beethoven’s “Choral” Symphony. This is a performance etched with rough edges, moments of extraordinary lyricism, dramatic tempo changes and arresting emphases, all harnessed to the pursuit of something only just within reach, an expression of humanity at its highest. The sense of striving, tempered by near-supernatural beauty in the slow movement “Adagio molto”, culminates in an apocalyptic reading of the choral finale, overwhelming in its mighty emotional impact.