Ludwig van Beethoven: 9 Symphonien
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Free Music Notes for Ludwig van Beethoven: 9 Symphonien
Free Music Review: A good set
Hit: 4 Stars
Herbie von K. remains a divisive figure in the musical world, even after his death. It is fair to say that, currently, he is not flavour of the month. Even at the time of this set's first release in the early '60s, the critics criticised Karajan's "glossy and glamorous" reading of Beethoven, made largely possibly by having the best orchestra on the planet under his baton. It was, to use an Australian expression, all show and no go.
And yet...
Listen to that Fifth. Listen to how quietly Karajan takes the end of the third movement, and how he relentlessly builds the tension until the joyous explosion of the fourth movement. For me, this recording at least matches the famous (and justly praised) Kleiber recording.
Listen to the Ninth. Listen to the delightful touches, to the ting of the triangle in the Turkish March, to the way the piccolo rises out of the orchestra as the volume builds towards the great string run that leads to the final appearance of the famous "Ode to Joy" chorus. And just listen to those strings sing and the way the double basses thunder along underneath it all. If I had to take one Ninth to my desert island, it would be this one.
There are things that are not so good of course. In the Pastoral, in the first movement "feelings of joy on arriving in the country", one can only assume that Karajan is sampling the joys in his Porsche. However, whoever gets a complete set of Beethoven symphonies right, whatever "right" means? Not Karajan, but not anyone else either. In my opinion, this is marvellous music making, in which the good things handily outnumber the bad, and at this price it is irresistible - which is, of course, why I didn't.
Free Music Review: Those who ignore repeats should be taken outside and shot
Hit: 2 Stars
Karajan shows no respect for the balance of Beethoven's score. Overall, there is little here to laud or hate......a bonus second star for spectacular execution by the Berlin Phil, without actually playing any music. Glossy, zero rubato, zero sforzati, continuous mezzo forte.
In 20 years, music notation software with masterful samples will sound exactly like this: the most perfect and beautiful sounds a computer can generate. These performances are soulless.
Give me Bernstein/VPO or Solti/Chicago any day over this rubbish.
Free Music Review: One of the best cycles out there - if not the best!
Hit: 5 Stars
The 9 Symphonies play a great role in my life because of their sheer beauty and touching deepness. So I have obtained a lot of recordings of these pieces through the years, some of them on CD, some on casette, some on LP. And there are the concerts, of course. As a natural consequence, I have listened to a lot of different interpretations of these masterpieces. All interpretations (well not all but a great majority) have their moments but when I listen to Maestro Karajan's recordings of these, I always discover something that wasn't there the last time I heard. Karajan has always been critiqued for being too mechanical, too much in control but he always introduced something new to the music through his interpretation... The artistical point of the 1963 Karajan cycle has already been talked about a lot, I've got nothing more to say about it, I can only repeat that this cycle is perpahs the best cycle you will ever find. It is one of those works which become to be the yardstick for the later recordings to be compared with.
I was most pleasantly surprised to discover that the sound quality is phenomenal for a 1963 recording, it is better than more recent ADD records. The sound engineering is also very good, it is like having the full orchestra play for you in youor living room. The deep notes of the double basses go right through you while the violins tease your ears in a most pleasent way. So, the sound quality is just great.
I also would like to talk about the CD design, which is something very important for me. I know it is strange but I like to own CDs that have good design. Of course the included material is a lot more important but... Anyway, there are two CD cases with the first one including the first 6 symphonies on 3 CDs, and the other presenting the remaining three on 2 CDs, with the last CD contains the 9th. CDs have mirror surface with the classic DG logo and the contents are listed on the CD itself as well as the booklet. The booklet offers a good read on the 9 symphonies and the cycle presented with the set.
I hope you will enjoy the set as much as I do...
Free Music Review: Excellent set of Beethoven's 9 Symphonies
Hit: 5 Stars
I have only one complaint: the first part of both the 5th and 6th
symphonies feel a bit rushed in my view, the tempo seems just a
little fast. Other than that, this is an excellent set of
Beethoven's 9 symphonies, well worth it.
Free Music Review: SACD set is better
Hit: 3 Stars
Beethoven's 5th by Karajan was my first classical record purchase.
Thousands of analogue and digital discs later, I again purchased the same 5th and eight others on this CD set.
Karajan lived through the eternal dilemma of the all artists who came after the great predecessors.
At his last Saltsburg Festival, after conducted "Don Giovanni"He said to his wife,
"Furtwangler would have said it wasn't all that great."
She consoled the Maestro,
"It was! It was!"
Karajan had a life long struggle with legacy of Furtwangler and was not too sure if he won.
Well, his style and interpretations are definitely non-Furtwangler, or to more precisely put non-German.
It seems to me that Karajan tried to avoid playing Beethoven's music in conjunction with German culture and spirituality.
Whether his attempt was successful one or not, has been a topic of many music critics and connoisseurs.
Personally, I have a mixed feeling toward this cycle.
I like No.1, 2 and 7 very much. However, there are some flaws; for instance in the fourth movements of 5th and 9th,
cello, bass, tympani and all lower notes suddenly disappear. All you hear is the first violin all the way to coda with painfully
bright tone.(it is called Karajan glare and is more obvious if you own high resolution Audiophile stereo system)
Wonder if this deletion of bass is a part of Karajan's interpretations or a fault of old analog recorder, which is incapable of
recording loud passages?
In each symphonies, the first violin is always exaggerated over other instruments. I think that is the reason why some people
call these recordings "light" Beethoven.
If you must listen to Karajan's Beethoven Symphonies, I would recommend SACD reissue, which is more expensive and bass is
still thin but tonal quality is somewhat more acceptable.
And if you want to listen to the best Beethoven cycle, do yourself a favor:
Obtain the 9 symphonies by Furtwangler.
This set is not my first choice.