 | | |
| Beethoven: The Complete Symphonies and Piano Concertos | 
 enlarge
| Creators: Hans Hotter, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Otto Klemperer, Christa Ludwig, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra Of London, Daniel Barenboim, Aase Nordmo Lovberg, Aase Nordmo-lovberg, Waldemar Kmentt
Label: EMI Classics
Category: Music
List Price: $62.98
Buy New: $37.97
You Save: $25.01 (40%)
Buy New/Used from $34.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (26 reviews)
Sales Rank: 9127
Format: Box Set, Limited Edition, Original Recording Reissued
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 9
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.3 x 5 x 1.1
UPC: 724357389525
EAN: 0724357389525
ASIN: B00004YA0S
Release Date: November 7, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Pure pleasure February 28, 2006
20 out of 24 found this review helpful
Probably, a Beethoven symphony set cannot be more seminal than this one. Klemperer's gritty, powerful, and solid interpretations are classic benchmarks in the recording history.
There are many things to appreciate here, for example the outstanding finale of no. 9, with prominent trombone playing and excellent percussion beats - it sounds like no other recording, and I think it is the finest account available.
In sum, a set carved in granite, heated by a sunny day of musical passion - warmly recommended.
(The piano concertos included are also very fine, but consider Szell/Fleisher for reference.)
A Giant Among Conductors August 15, 2005
18 out of 25 found this review helpful
Two days after 9-11, in a stunned state (as we all were here in New England) I sat down at a local used CD shop and almost absent-mindedly plunked into the player a used copy of Klemperer's recording of the Third. I was barely aware of the passing of the first movement but when the Funeral March began something extraordinary happened. It wasn't the Funeral March per se (which would have struck me as trite during those days of bottomless tragedy) but this recording of it. Klemp, a German, and a damned good one, understood. He'd seen it, in fact he'd seen worse, much worse. He was almost using Beethoven's music to convey something no composer could ever convey.
Klemperer's way with music, especially German music, was unique. Issues of tempo and "control" are superfluous, he was a deeply soulful conductor and that's what matters. Soulfulness, in case you haven't noticed, is the magic elixer that makes Germanic music truly come alive and I'd argue only German conductors, and especially those of an era when good German souls were in deep torment, are best qualified to wrench every bit of it out of a piece of music. No man who was a German could stand at a podium in, say, 1958, conduct the Ninth, or Mathis der Maler, or the St Matthew Passion, and not feel a bit of the cosmos orbiting around the proceedings, and not exactly in a pleasant way. This often wasn't mere music making, it was penance, it was offerings to God for forgiveness, compassion, understanding. It may be that the greatest tragedy of modern times may have, ironically, led to two or three decades of the greatest music making ever.
I love quite a few Beethoven cycles (most though are pre-Seventies) but this set is special. Please accept it on its own terms and please accept the total committment and sincerity of the conductor.
Klemperer's Genius June 15, 2005
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
The people who are criticizing Klemperer's tempo are missing the big picture. Listening to these recordings was powerful and moving. Klemperer uses tempo to give the listener the oportunity to hear each note that Beethoven used. Anybody who wants to hear a powerful interpertation of the great symphonies should buy this box set.
Klemperer's Beethoven January 2, 2005
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
" Old fashioned and slow?"
I can't believe your music editor is talking this kind of a language. Klemperer is the high priest of Beethoven and he chose his tempo according to what he felt was right.
I for one can never understand why people equate Klemperer to slow tempos. They should listen to Klemperer's readings of Bruckner's 4th or to Mozart's 'Prague' symphony where he decides to use faster than normal tempos.
This set will remain an all-time classic!
Music of the Spheres. October 31, 2004
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
To own these recordings; what a privilege!
These are to me, without a doubt the most convincing and satisfying accounts of these most eternal symphonic works ever committed to disc.
Without wanting to slaughter this gift by detaining it for analysis, yet there are two characteristic traits worthy of mention to the ardent devotee of Beethoven's works: first, the Klemperer 'sound', and second, the Klemperer 'SOUND'. There is an exact and almost terrifyingly hypnotic fusion here of supreme, organic, and hefty recorded sound quality with a logical, colossal, and well-nigh spiritual traversal of these symphonies.
The orchestra demonstrates a rare and elevated capacity to play through these scores note by note, never forgetting themselves in the frenzy of celestial splendour. They are always in the moment, never rushing, never dabbling, but steady, steady, like some granite truck ploughing through the eternal cosmos, or like an oak tree towering upward, growing, growing, and reaching mesmerizing heights.
I deeply respect the many contributions by other amazing conductors of the bygone era to this canon. The interpretations of Furtwangler, Pfitzner, Weingartner and Toscanini should especially not be overlooked. However, there is a fire in these recordings, an intensity of precision and seriousness that elsewhere have not been matched.
Meditate on these divine works. Appreciate and enjoy them.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |
