Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
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
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Now 50 years old, this recording, reissued many times, is likely to have outsold all other recorded versions of this symphony. It carries the atmosphere of a great occasion recorded live - the post war re-opening of the Bayreuth Festspiehaus in 1951. The performance itself, for all its occasional imperfections, has the headlong spontaneity of a first performance. The sound quality in this latest reissue is perfectly acceptable. The wonderful acoustics of Wagner's Bayreuth theatre help ensure success. You might be aware that you are sometimes carried in too closely to one or two woodwind instruments during the third movement, but the perspective is otherwise consistent. The taxing vocal contributions are never disappointing, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's singing being especially distinctive.
I have never heard any performer make any "feel good" statements about this symphony. Toscanini, who conducted it countless times during his long life, declared that he never got to understand it. Orchestra members complain that they feel they have been reduced to "accompaniment" status once the baritone begins his recitative in the last movement. A retired contralto soloist who performed it all around the world once told me, "It's a bugger, John. I still go weak at the knees when I hear the introduction to the last movement." Sopranos singing in the chorus report that the high notes they need to attack and sustain leave them hoarse and exhausted afterwards. Can other internet visitors offer further performing insights?
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This live mono recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony from 1951 is a Great Recording of the (20th) Century if there ever was one! The occasion was the reopening of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus following the end of the occupation and the repair of bomb damage. The visionary Wilhelm Furtwangler agreed to conduct the 9th, which was significant because Furtwangler saw Beethoven's 9th as perhaps the greatest spiritual work of all, and only conducted it live, as a communal rite.
The Bayreuth Festival Orchestra is not as great an orchestra as the Berlin Philharmonic, which Furtwangler led for many years, through the war, but they give an impassioned performance. Furtwangler's vision shines through, and the finale is more powerful than any other I've heard. An absolutely essential recording, on the shortest of short lists!
A great modern recording is Claudio Abbado leading the Berlin Philharmonic at the Salzburg Easter Festival in 1996. I recommend it alongside the historic Furtwangler, especially for the superb second movement, the Molto vivace, which will have you dancing around the room! Of course there are several other Furtwangler live versions as well, but whether you are pursuing Furtwangler's Beethoven, or Furtwangler's Beethoven's 9th, this recording is not optional.
[It is now widely known that this recording is mainly the rehearsal, not the actual performance, though the tape was spliced and includes parts from both. But the recording has its own historical significance after all these years.]
The Bayreuth Festival Orchestra is not as great an orchestra as the Berlin Philharmonic, which Furtwangler led for many years, through the war, but they give an impassioned performance. Furtwangler's vision shines through, and the finale is more powerful than any other I've heard. An absolutely essential recording, on the shortest of short lists!
A great modern recording is Claudio Abbado leading the Berlin Philharmonic at the Salzburg Easter Festival in 1996. I recommend it alongside the historic Furtwangler, especially for the superb second movement, the Molto vivace, which will have you dancing around the room! Of course there are several other Furtwangler live versions as well, but whether you are pursuing Furtwangler's Beethoven, or Furtwangler's Beethoven's 9th, this recording is not optional.
[It is now widely known that this recording is mainly the rehearsal, not the actual performance, though the tape was spliced and includes parts from both. But the recording has its own historical significance after all these years.]
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This re-release in remastered sound is excellent for it's recorded quality. Originally issued on HMV CDC 747081-2 this mono recording is subject to the care taken by the Abbey Road engineers and has meant that this release is very clean and remarkably clear considering its age. Wilhelm Furtwangler I would suggest is a conductor that always seems to go for the fireworks in the music, the movements seem to be taken at a fast speed except for the Adagio which is possibly one of the most beautiful on record. A mixed bag for me but a worthwhile recording document for this most mercurial of conductors. Recommended.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Astonishing and unforgetable rendition.
The atmosphere of this recording is laden with the emotions of Nazi Politics and War Crime's as black as the deepest pits of hell, yet the sublime heights of artisic merit lift us... Read more
Published on 29 July 2009 by Vijaya Garuda
Chorally Inept
I bought this album specifically for the last movement (I was due to perform this as part of a choir). Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2009 by Mr. Robert Barnes
historic and excellent
This is an Historic phenomenon. It is really the best recording of 9th Symphony. I can compare only with Klemperer's recording. Read more
Published on 28 July 2004 by Sungu Okan
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?
|
