Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
55 of 58 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
EMI have just released a further single disc in their Great Recordings of the Century series of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (to add to the earlier releases of the justly famous mono versions of the Fifth and Seventh Symphonies and the Eroica)
This makes me wonder if they are at last going to make available for us , albeit on separate dics , what many record collectors and admirers of Otto Klemperer's genius in Beethoven have long realized - that the real Klemperer Cycle of the Nine Beethoven Symphonies consists of the performances in this set of the 1st , 2nd , 4th , 6th , 7th , 8th , and 9th Symphonies together with the earlier recordings of the 3rd and 5th . But surely you're not including that lumbering , leaden footed account of the 7th !! Ah , but that brings me to the reason I wanted to write a few words about this wonderful set.
Everyone else who has reviewed it has correctly referred to the problems of those later re-makes of 3 , 5 , and 7 without noticing that the performance of the 7th in this set is actually an experimental Stereo Recording of the 1955 seventh , not its lumbering re-make , and superb it sounds too ! EMI ran similar experimental Stereo sessions on their Karajan Rosenkavalier recording . Stereo is of course important in Klemperer's Beethoven given his correct antiphonal division of 1st and 2nd violins , and where better to hear them than in the Finale of Beethoven's 7th (Composers knew about Stereo before we did !!)
This set is an amazing bargain and its virtues and shortcomings are well known .
Buy it as soon as you can ; add the mono discs of the Eroica and the 5th , spoil yourself with the Testament realease of the live 9th and you will have , as Walter Legge the producer of these records said at the time , a Beethoven Cycle which will be prized as long as Records are collected .
Oh and I forgot to mention that for your £25 you get the Piano Concertos , Choral Fantasia and several of the most famous Overtures thrown in for good measure as well - incredible !!
This makes me wonder if they are at last going to make available for us , albeit on separate dics , what many record collectors and admirers of Otto Klemperer's genius in Beethoven have long realized - that the real Klemperer Cycle of the Nine Beethoven Symphonies consists of the performances in this set of the 1st , 2nd , 4th , 6th , 7th , 8th , and 9th Symphonies together with the earlier recordings of the 3rd and 5th . But surely you're not including that lumbering , leaden footed account of the 7th !! Ah , but that brings me to the reason I wanted to write a few words about this wonderful set.
Everyone else who has reviewed it has correctly referred to the problems of those later re-makes of 3 , 5 , and 7 without noticing that the performance of the 7th in this set is actually an experimental Stereo Recording of the 1955 seventh , not its lumbering re-make , and superb it sounds too ! EMI ran similar experimental Stereo sessions on their Karajan Rosenkavalier recording . Stereo is of course important in Klemperer's Beethoven given his correct antiphonal division of 1st and 2nd violins , and where better to hear them than in the Finale of Beethoven's 7th (Composers knew about Stereo before we did !!)
This set is an amazing bargain and its virtues and shortcomings are well known .
Buy it as soon as you can ; add the mono discs of the Eroica and the 5th , spoil yourself with the Testament realease of the live 9th and you will have , as Walter Legge the producer of these records said at the time , a Beethoven Cycle which will be prized as long as Records are collected .
Oh and I forgot to mention that for your £25 you get the Piano Concertos , Choral Fantasia and several of the most famous Overtures thrown in for good measure as well - incredible !!
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The nine CDs in this set contain Ludwig van Beethoven's, and maybe classical music's, finest works. The nine symphonies are recordings from 1955, 1959 and 1963 performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of the late, near legendary, Otto Klemperer.
Don't be put off by the fact these recordings are more than 50 years old. Digitally remastered, and presented in a box set with extensive booklet, the quality is as outstanding as the performances are precise. Sometimes described as slow or unkindly labeled as plodding, I can only see these for what they are...performances which are measured, precise and immaculately polished.
Similarly, the piano concertos (all of Beethoven's five concertos are included) are amongst the best you will find. The pianist on these 1968 recordings is a young Daniel Barenboim, and the orchestra is the same as that of the symphonies, although now performing under the newly adopted title (from 1964) the `New Philharmonia Orchestra'.
Again, the original recordings have been remastered to produce sparkling results.
If that wasn't enough, the `Coriolan', `Prometheus' and 3 `Leonore Overtures' are included, along with the `Gross Fugue' and `Fantasia for piano, chorus and orchestra'.
My criticisms are the lack of information on each CD sleeve - you need to consult the 52 page (20 in English) booklet to see the full track listing - which is typical of the EMI Classics series, and to omit the `Egmont Overture' is inexcusable. But perhaps I'm just asking too much...
Essential listening.
Don't be put off by the fact these recordings are more than 50 years old. Digitally remastered, and presented in a box set with extensive booklet, the quality is as outstanding as the performances are precise. Sometimes described as slow or unkindly labeled as plodding, I can only see these for what they are...performances which are measured, precise and immaculately polished.
Similarly, the piano concertos (all of Beethoven's five concertos are included) are amongst the best you will find. The pianist on these 1968 recordings is a young Daniel Barenboim, and the orchestra is the same as that of the symphonies, although now performing under the newly adopted title (from 1964) the `New Philharmonia Orchestra'.
Again, the original recordings have been remastered to produce sparkling results.
If that wasn't enough, the `Coriolan', `Prometheus' and 3 `Leonore Overtures' are included, along with the `Gross Fugue' and `Fantasia for piano, chorus and orchestra'.
My criticisms are the lack of information on each CD sleeve - you need to consult the 52 page (20 in English) booklet to see the full track listing - which is typical of the EMI Classics series, and to omit the `Egmont Overture' is inexcusable. But perhaps I'm just asking too much...
Essential listening.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The low price aside, this is an excellent set, giving comprehensive coverage to Beethoven's most popular works (it is a pity Missa Solemnis was not included). The recordings (all of the symphonies have recently been remastered) are excellent- Wilhelm Pitz's Philharmonia Chorus in the finale of the 9th is better and clearer than any other chorus in any other recording (e.g. Karajan's 1962 recording of the Ninth is notorious for its poor choral contribution).
The piano concertos are also superb, as are the Fantasia and overtures. This is a superb set, which is so cheap one cannot really go wrong in buying it, even if some of the symphonies are as an earlier reviewer put it, "lethargic".
The piano concertos are also superb, as are the Fantasia and overtures. This is a superb set, which is so cheap one cannot really go wrong in buying it, even if some of the symphonies are as an earlier reviewer put it, "lethargic".
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Deeply involving Beethoven
A great Klemperer collection at a bargain price. Perhaps not for those who must have the speed, sound and incessant sharp drum strokes of the 'historically informed'... Read more
Published 4 months ago by JAHH
Don't Hesitate
This is spectacular, in my opinion: the sound quality is perfect, the conducting and playing rich and sumptuous and the overall value almost unbelievable. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Hilton Bennett
Wonderful box set and a bargain too
I grew up with the few Klemperer recordings of Beethoven symphonies that I could afford, on vinyl long since worn out. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Margaret Newton
Viva Klemperer!
I grew up on these recordings,as they were my mother's favorite versions, then I rejected them as too subjective, too romantic, too slow and turgid. Read more
Published 22 months ago by LR
As it used to be done
When I first started collecting records, Klemperer's Beethoven was THE way it should be done. He sold out concerts and this set is something definitive as a benchmark of the time. Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2009 by Mr Swallow
A unique landmark series of interpretations at ridiculously low price
Fashions come and go. From the latter years of the 20 Century the attempt to "recover" what Beethoven might have expected to hear through the use of copies of instruments in use... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2007 by Colin Fortune
Definitive Beethoven
For me, Otto Klemperer has been the definitive, heavy-weight Beethoven conductor in the past 50 years or more. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2006 by David C. Coleman
The Perfect Introduction
For anybody wanting a complete collection of Beethoven's symphonies this is probably the best place to start. Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2006 by S. G. Toyne
The Truth - if not the Whole Truth
Klemperer's way with Beethoven was nothing if not honest. By the 1950's Otto Klemperer drew his signature with a bold, truculent hand. The letter-forms shaky but defiant. Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2003 by R. C. Ross
Great concerti , admirable symphonies
The Barenboim/ Klemperer combination was a tremendous success. The Emperor is a fabulous performance. A few years ago it was £26 to buy just the concerti ! Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2001
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
