Review: Klaus Tennstedt--The "Not-As-Great-As-They-Claim" Recordings

This 14-CD set contains most of Klaus Tennstedt's non-Mahler, non-vocal (with two exceptions) recordings for EMI, a typical grab-bag of stuff. Some of it is terrific, and some of it isn't. The notes attempt to claim that Tennstedt was wildly unpredictable in the studio, and therefore fabulous whenever he could be persuaded to make a recording, but this is nonsense. As the evidence of our ears bears out, "unpredictable" means exactly what it says.