Beethoven Der Sturm

Innerhalb kurzer Zeit entschied sich Claudio Abbado zweimal, zusammen mit seinen Berlinern die gesamten Beethoven Sinfonien aufzunehmen. Die vorliegende zweite Aufnahme muss sich also zurecht der Frage stellen: War das wirklich nötig? Die Antwort ist simpel: Es war nötig, denn Abbado nahm zahlreiche Schönheitskorrekturen vor, wodurch ein Zyklus entstand, der mit Abstand das Beste ist, was in den letzten Jahren auf diesem Gebiet vorgestellt wurde, allerdings mit einigen kleinen Schönheitsfehlern.

Music from "The Ruins of Athens", Symphony No. 2, Mass in C major (conducted by Beecham), Symphony No. 7 (conducted by Colin Davis), Romances (2 pieces) (Menuhin - violin, conducted by Boult), Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral" (conducted by Kubelik), Violin Concerto (Ferrassu - violin, conducted by Sargent), Symphony No. 3 "Heroic" (conducted by Sargent). Recorded 1956-1961. 34 tracks / 4 hours 52 minutes.

Herbert von Karajan directs the Berlin Philharmonic in an Italianate take of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony and an assured rendering of the Fifth, while the "Pastoral" Symphony, conceived and derected by Hugo Niebeling in 1967, is a revolutionary mix of styles - Fantasia meets Expressionism meets film noir.

After the critical success of the first volume of Beethoven’s symphonies, Jordi Savall now offers us from the Sixth to the Ninth.This latest publication crowns a nearly two-year world tour and confirms the extent to which the director renews our vision of these most famous works. The Concert des Nations shows that it also knows how to magnify the repertoire of the early 19th century, which will be confirmed by a forthcoming Schubert album.

German maestro Kurt Masur and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra have recorded the complete Beethoven Symphonies for Philips twice. The first traversal was made in the 1970's. That cycle also included some of the overtures, and became legendary from the day it was issued. I well remember how sad and dismayed many collectors were when Philips elected not to issue that set in the USA. It was only available in specialty stores in large cities for a premium price.

Andris Nelsons has joined forces with the Wiener Philharmoniker to record Ludwig van Beethoven’s nine symphonies for Deutsche Grammophon. The release of their new album on 4 October 2019 will mark the start of the Yellow Label’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth next year. The Nelsons Beethoven cycle is presented in a specially commissioned deluxe box featuring the nine works on five CDs and a single Blu-ray Audio disc in TrueHD sound quality.