In one of his last concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra before his retirement from public performance, Klaus Tennsted turned to Beethoven's unequivocal proclamation of human love and brotherhood: the Ninth Symphony. As the conductor struggled with illness, everyone of his late concerts in London became an event, as if any could be his last. Tennstedt's singularly grand and lengthy view of Beethoven's music was unique; that, and the acute atmosphere of his last London appearances, which also marked the Orchestra's 60th anniversary, shines through in this performance.