The re-opening of the Bayreuth Festival in 1951 represented a major step forward in the international rehabilitation of Germany following the end of the Second World War. As the leading conductor of his generation, Wilhelm Furtw�ngler was the obvious choice to conduct the opening performance of the Festival, traditionally devoted to a single work, Beethoven�s Symphony No. 9, the �Choral�.This work had a deep spiritual significance for Furtw�ngler: he only agreed to conduct it on special occasions, and never made a studio recording of it. First released in 1955, after his death, the recording of this 1951 performance represents one of the most profound realisations of Beethoven�s masterpiece ever to have been committed to disc.