I just finished listening to Böhm's 1936 4th with the Sächsische (aka Dresden) Staatskapelle. I have to say, it is a unique reading and hard to make out what exactly was "Romantic" about it

. It is very quick--too much so;
nicht zu schnell did not compute, I supose. I know some are on the outs with Böhm's '73 VPO recording because he does have relatively brisk timings, but it is wholy expansive compared to this early recording. The bright side, the scherzo is very aggressively 'moving' and really flies. It does not feel as energetic as Jochum's BPO sherzo even with the faster timings. But that may have more to do with the gorgeous DG sound on that Jochum cycle.
It also didn't help that the transfer source was probably not in very good shape (1995 Golden Memories). There was more hiss and popping than I could tolerate, and there seemed to be a warp in the source, so there is a background squeek that becomes more prominant as the needle approaches what would be the center of the record--moreso on the first two movements. It only accentuates the already frenetic performance... and not positively.
The transfer on Furtwängler's 1944 9th (1996 Iron Needle), however, is just about perfect... though it may only be due to listening to that bad recording just before it.
