Thread: Beethoven Symphony Cycles

Posts: 13
Page: 1 2 next

Post by Ubertrout October 18, 2013 (1 of 13)
It seems like every few weeks or so, the forum informs me of a cycle of Beethoven symphonies I'm not yet aware of. I wanted to do a complete list, at least as of now, and there seems to be:

Beethoven: The Symphonies - Karajan
Beethoven: Symphonies - Jaap van Zweden
Beethoven: Die 9 Sinfonien - Dresdner Philharmonie/Kegel
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies - Masur
Beethoven: The Symphonies - RPO
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 - Haitink
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 - Wand
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies - Vänskä
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 - Gazarian
Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies - Herreweghe
Beethoven: The Nine Symphonies - Kempe
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies - Jan Willem de Vriend
Beethoven: The Complete Symphonies - Tadaaki Otaka
Beethoven: The Symphonies - Bruggen
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies - Asahina
Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies - Asahina
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies - Järvi

And I suspect I missed a few. For all the talk about how SACD never took off, there are 17 complete cycles of the Beethoven symphonies on SACD, not counting many incomplete cycles. Do people have their favorites?

Post by pacwin October 18, 2013 (2 of 13)
One more to add

Beethoven - The Symphonies, Herbert von Karajan and BPO, Live in Tokyo Nov 1977

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 - Karajan
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 7 - Karajan
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6 - Karajan
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 8 - Karajan
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 - Karajan

These are premium priced single layer discs although now discounted somewhat

Post by Lute October 19, 2013 (3 of 13)
I haven't heard all of those listed, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Beethoven: Complete Symphonies - Jan Willem de Vriend.

Post by samayoeruorandajin October 19, 2013 (4 of 13)
Lute said:

I haven't heard all of those listed, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Beethoven: Complete Symphonies - Jan Willem de Vriend.

Really? Comparables? I have Vanska and a few RBCD cycles.

Post by Lute October 19, 2013 (5 of 13)
samayoeruorandajin said:

Really? Comparables? I have Vanska and a few RBCD cycles.

Beethoven: Complete Symphonies - Jan Willem de Vriend are period style performances, especially with their use of period brass, but with a modern orchestra...the best of both period and modern. The style is comparable to Roger Norrington's and Paavo Järvi's. There is an appealing rawness with period style playing that suits Beethoven's edgier side. The timpani also adds powerful punctuation. Vriend builds the tension beautifully by emphasizing the light and dark tones and using strong dynamics. These make the music become alive with excitement and drama. This approach is different from Vanska's (who I also like). Tempos are on the brisk side but slightly more relaxed than Järvi's. And Vriend uses slightly larger forces than Järvi, which gives Vriend's more punch. One thing I didn't like about Järvi's was the thin sound of the orchestra. Vriend's has much better sound IMO (Hats off to Challenge Classics). It has a good 'center section of the audience' perspective with plenty of air, but still full and warm sound. (I listen in Mch.) The ninth has wonderful soloists and the chorus is beautifully caught.

Post by diw October 19, 2013 (6 of 13)
It's amazing how many of these cycles aren't very good.
I guess you could make the same list for Mahler cycles.

Post by Joseph Ponessa October 19, 2013 (7 of 13)
For all the talk about how SACD never took off, there are 17 complete cycles of the Beethoven symphonies on SACD, not counting many incomplete cycles.
Blu-Ray has four Beethoven cycles now--Abbado (excellent), Thielemann (excellent), Jansons (dreadful) and Kegel (just coming out on BD-A, have mine coming from Germany now). Thielemann has to be the best of these, not only because of the excellent sound (mch much better than stereo) but also because of the bonus features, interviews on all the symphonies.

Laserdisc in the course of two decades had four cycles--two Karajans, one Bernstein and one Asahina (the soundtrack of which has also been released in SACD, sounding the same as the LD). Bernstein's was the best of these, the LD Ninth having sound equalling the LP and surpassing the CD and SACD releases.

DVD-Audio has two cycles--Barenboim (much better than the CD release of same) and Abbado (not as good as Barenboim or as Abbado's own live recordings of the following year now out on Blu-Ray).

I have or had all seventeen of the SACD cycles you list. I cannot recommend Otaka to anybody, but the rest of them all have their qualities.

My favorite stereo SACD set is Asahina's second one from 2000 released by Exton. The recording was obviously a labor of love meant as a final memoir for Japan's greatest conductor (then 90 years of age), and the SACD transfer is transparent. This is big Beethoven with a sense of occasion.

My favorite multichannel SACD set seems to be De Vriend. I say seems to be, because I keep listening to the Ninth over and over, and have delayed getting on to the rest of the cycle. So unless something dreadful happens in the Eroica or the Pastoral, I am assuming this cycle is my favorite mch set.

Post by Joseph Ponessa October 19, 2013 (8 of 13)
pacwin said:

One more to add
Beethoven - The Symphonies, Herbert von Karajan and BPO, Live in Tokyo Nov 1977

I have the Ninth from this set and it is very nice, but not nice enough to make me go without lunch for the rest of the set. In fact I got the Ninth on CD first and then upgraded to SACD, and the sound was much better, even though they come from the same company a year apart

Here is a nineteenth Beethoven cycle: Furtwängler, available on five SACDs in Japan. It is an uneven set spread out over a number of years. I find Furtwängler's Brahms recordings to be more compelling than his Beethoven, maybe because the sound quality is better.

Post by Polarius T October 19, 2013 (9 of 13)
Ubertrout said:
...at least as of now, and there seems to be:

...also the Klemperer set:

/search/klemperer+beethoven+symphony
plus
/search/klemperer+beethoven+symphonies

A permanent favorite I keep returning to, together with the Abbado Rome set.

Post by Joseph Ponessa October 19, 2013 (10 of 13)
Polarius T said:

...also the Klemperer set:
A permanent favorite I keep returning to, together with the Abbado Rome set.

Agreed about both the Klemperer and the Abbado (better on blu-ray than it was on DVD).
I only have 7 and 9 out of the Klemperer set, and the 7 is a thing of wonder. I got it by accident when I clicked the wrong button while trying to order the 9, and became inseparable from it right away. The CD release was not esteemed by the Amazon reviewers, who found it plodding, but what I find on SACD is a remarkable steadiness of tempo, propelling the action. I have listened to the 7 three or four times.
I had all the rest of the Klemperer set in my shopping cart a couple of times, and each time relented because of a budget ceiling crisis mentality. The little angel on my left shoulder is saying: Polarius T recommends it!

With the Klemperer, we are now up to twenty cycles on SACD and counting.

Page: 1 2 next

Closed