Ludwig van Beethoven: 9 Symphonien
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Free Music Notes for Ludwig van Beethoven: 9 Symphonien
Free Music Review: The gold standard
Hit: 5 Stars
While some criticize this cycle for being a by-the-numbers beginner's set for the proles, the 1963 von Karajan Beethoven symphonies provide the single best recording of the 9th Symphony available, as well as truly excellent renditions of the other eight symphonies.
One concern is the sound engineering; the brass are overpowering generally, so you need a good equalizer to make it sound just right, or a big room and a powerful stereo with great fidelity. I find that my car stereo actually does a fine job resolving the levels, but your mileage may vary. Overall, the finest cycle, although quite staid.
Free Music Review: The processed meat of Beethoven cycles
Hit: 3 Stars
I continue to be amazed by the rave reviews von Karajan continues to get after all of these years, and can only ascribe it to extremely slick marketing, because I can think of fewer Beethoven cycles that are more emotionally bereft than Karajan's. It is true that this is the best of the four Karajan versions, but that is faint praise indeed.
Noone can dispute that all of the notes are in place, and that the performances are impeccable. However, the symphonies have such a processed, mass-produced feel to them that I can understand how people can reach the conclusion (if they are listening only to Karajan) that the Beethoven symphonies really aren't all that compelling. A few years back, I actually had an argument with someone who stated that Beethoven was a tremendously overrated hack of a composer. On further questioning, I discovered that he was basing his opinion largely on the symphonies, and on this cycle in particular. Placed in that context, his opinion made much more sense. When such a disservice is done to the composer, I can only conclude that Karajan was more interested in efficiently producing a mass-marketable product that would keep his name on the lips of the record-buying public rather than doing Beethoven's art justice.
One can do worse than this cycle, certainly --- but read through the reviews, and you will notice that the reviewers who are well-versed in the Beethoven discography are disenchanted with any of the Karajan cycles. Keeping it short --- my own preferences among older recordings would include Walter, Furtwangler & Bohm, while newer cycles worth checking out would include Gardiner, Norrington & Zinman, all light years removed from Karajan's interpretations. The more exposure you have to these other recordings of greater depth, the less you will be swayed by the marketing hype that has always swirled around Karajan.
Free Music Review: A superb collection of some of the finest music in history..
Hit: 5 Stars
The Beethoven symphonies posess some of the finest and most inspiring music of all time. Innovative, epic, challenging and utterly essential.Free Music Review: 1963 Karajan & David Zinman: Two of the Best Sets
Hit: 5 Stars
I have 3 different Beethoven Nine Symphonies sets now:
(1) 'The Beethoven Collection' by Janos Ferencsik (ASIN: B000001VVY)
(2) 'Beethoven: The Nine Symphonies' by David Zinman (ASIN: B00000IFP6)
(3) 'Beethoven: 9 Symphonien' by Herbert von Karajan (ASIN: B000001GBQ).
The first one is a budget set and has taken early retirement since I acquired the latter two, which I found to be far superior. Yet, there is a difference between the latter two.
The critically acclaimed David Zinman edition is slightly lightweight, but has the advantage of speed and dramatics and really grabs your attention. For those times when I feel bored and need something exciting to perk me up, that's when I reach for the David Zinman edition. It is Beethoven driven at a very fast pace, as mentioned by numerous others earlier.
The widely acknowledged 1963 Herbert von Karajan edition has a large grand orchestral sound which is warm and lush; I reach for it when I want to unwind and enjoy sweet orchestral music. The quality of the recording is still excellent despite its age, and if you are coming over to classical music from smooth Jazz, this is an easier transition.
I strongly recommend these 2 sets - if you like your Symphonies hot and exciting go for the Zinman edition; if you want something warm and lush, go for the 1963 Karajan edition, or better still, grab both sets like me.
Free Music Review: Vastly overrated - even somewhat repugnant!
Hit: 1 Stars
Ever wonder why Beethoven was der Fuhrer's favorite composer? Then these recordings are for you.
I am normally against dragging the politics of an artist into a discussion of his work. But Karajan's reported 11 years of active membership in the Nazi party really seem to have been a major influence on his musical aesthetic. These recordings present a Beethoven of unrelieved aggression and inhuman discipline. Tempos are fast, dynamics tend towards the loud and anything approaching a march rhythm is goose-stepped.
The unanimity of the Berlin Philharmonic is technically amazing (and somewhat frightening). One never gets the sense of an individual musician playing an instrument. Everyone is just a cog in the absolutely perfect Karajan Machine. But aside from aggressiveness, the music is barely characterized. Beethoven's poetics? Nonexistent. It's no wonder that the Sixth is an utterly ludicrous failure. It's one thing to take a walk in the Polish countryside, quite another to stage a military invasion.
I actually think recordings like these (and to some degree, even Solti's with the CSO) did a serious disservice to the popular image of Beethoven. Performing artists such as Walter, Furtwangler, Bohm & Kempff (Germans all), gave us a Beethoven of warmth, humor and poetry. And with them, the element of grandeur is recognizably human !