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Ludwig van Beethoven: 9 Symphonien
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028942903623
Format: Original recording reissued
Label: Deutsche Grammophon 1963 / 2007
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon 1963 / 2007
MPN: 429036
Number Of Discs: 5
Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon 1963 / 2007
Release Date: June 05, 2007
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon 1963 / 2007
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Editorial Review:
By general consensus, Herbert von Karajan's first (1963) Beethoven cycle for Deutsche Grammophon is the best of the four (!) that he recorded. The Berlin Philharmonic was in top form, and they had not yet made an artistic fetish out of the bland smoothness that typified the conductor's later recordings of this music (and just about everything else). Karajan's squeaky clean, emotionally cool Beethoven will always be something of an acquired taste, but this set makes the best possible case for it. --David Hurwitz
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Exciting and engrossing recordings
I have enjoyed listening to Karajan's 1963 set ever since I bought it on sale at the Record Hunter in New York in the late 1980's. I don't find the renditions unemotional as some do. The performances are fast and dramatic. To some the sixth is too fast, but the slower tempos we have become accustomed to are only received tradition just as phlegmatic renditions of Bruckner's symphonies were once the norm. The performances often have the drive more typical of early music versions of classic works, ... Read More
Rating:  - Okay! Good for a preference recording
It's very well played, well recorded, very standard for general audience or listeners. It's very Karajan. It's nice and pleasant to listen to. Nothing is deep, nothing is special, and overall, very boring and forgettable. I bought this set when I was still a music student. It was good when I needed to listen for study in a Beethoven Symphony class. But now I don't touch it any more.
Kleiber (Eric for #3, and Carlos for #4, #5, and #7), Walter, and Gardiner are among my favorite. They are all ... Read More
Rating: - Uneven Beethoven Cycle by Karajan
In a rehearsal of a Mahler symphony Leonard Bernstein asked to the members of Wiener Philharmoniker "I know you can play the notes but where is Mahler?". A similar question could be asked to Karajan after this cycle.In his way of doing Beethoven,Karajan chooses to eschew all spiritual depth and philosophical struggle Beethoven had both as a person and a composer in favour of straight-forward energy and power.
In the first two symphonies Karajan simply fails to catch the Mozartian grace ... Read More
Rating: - A good set
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 ... Read More
Rating:  - Those who ignore repeats should be taken outside and shot
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 ... Read More
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