Beethoven Symphonies Cycle: Which is your #1 pick?

[DavidW]

Those are just about as opposite as cycles get!

Celibidache would better maximize the contrast!

[Pat B]

The main complaint I have is with the recorded sound - too reverberant.

I have only heard samples and I crossed it off the list for that very reason. The Scherzo of the 9th especially.

I went ahead and ordered the Immerseel set yesterday. I don't really need another Beethoven symphony cycle but it adds PI versions of most of the overtures and it's cheap.

[xochitl]

The ones that xochitl mention are faster in tempo than the traditional performances (Blomstedt is middle of the road).  Kind of made his comment uninterpretable" what constitutes "good tempo"  for him?  I don't know, but based on what he likes I'm guessing he won't like Blomstedt, which is too bad.

i guess i meant 'faster than traditional tempo' 
and i havent heard the blomstedt but adore his nielsen and sibelius so i'd probably like/love his beethoven unless he gets all karl bohm on me :yawn:

[DavidW]

i guess i meant 'faster than traditional tempo' 
and i havent heard the blomstedt but adore his nielsen and sibelius so i'd probably like/love his beethoven unless he gets all karl bohm on me :yawn:

If Bohm adopts similar tempos to what he uses in Mozart, then Blomstedt is faster.

[Parsifal]

If Bohm adopts similar tempos to what he uses in Mozart, then Blomstedt is faster.

Bohm's Beethoven cycle was typical of his era, but would be considered lethargic by todays HIP-influenced standards.  Bohm's Beethoven is one of the few parts of his discography that I got no pleasure from.  His Mozart, though not fast, strikes me as resolute and satisfying.

[kishnevi]

What is the consensus on the Hanover Band?  I see that the set of 9 symphonies is a cheap mp3 download . . . but I want opinions!

(I have an idea I may have heard a couple of these way back at the dawn of the compact disc era . . . but I may be mistaken.)

Hanover Band has a profoundly underpowered Ninth.  The chorus seems to have been twelve people singing at the opposite end of the hall from the microphones.  The other eight symphonies are much better recorded. 

Of the  recent cycles (meaning in the last decade or so),  I'd point to P. Jarvi and Chailly.

[Karl Henning]

I'm finding the Chailly a temptation.

Still.  Even having sprung for (and been pleased by) the Blomstedt and Immerseel just yesterday . . . .

[Parsifal]

I'm finding the Chailly a temptation.

I've been reading outsized praise for Chailly's 'groundbreaking' approach to these works, but when I listen to samples they sound like Toscanini in good sound, nothing particularly new.  Of course, samples are just samples.

[DavidW]

Bohm's Beethoven cycle was typical of his era, but would be considered lethargic by todays HIP-influenced standards.  Bohm's Beethoven is one of the few parts of his discography that I got no pleasure from.  His Mozart, though not fast, strikes me as resolute and satisfying.

I love his Mozart!  I had this recording which was one of my favorites, and it unfortunately became damaged (it was one of the favorites in my collection):

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What recordings do you like?

[Parsifal]

I love his Mozart!  I had this recording which was one of my favorites, and it unfortunately became damaged (it was one of the favorites in my collection):

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What recordings do you like?

i have a 2 cd set of symphonies with the bpo.

[Brian]

I've been reading outsized praise for Chailly's 'groundbreaking' approach to these works, but when I listen to samples they sound like Toscanini in good sound, nothing particularly new.  Of course, samples are just samples.

Yeah, I don't know if it's groundbreaking (but it is pretty terrific).

[Sergeant Rock]

Böhm's Mozart vs Beethoven. I'll take his Beethoven. Terrific 6 and 9...and sexy too 

Sarge

[Parsifal]

Yeah, I don't know if it's groundbreaking (but it is pretty terrific).

Although I usually don't shy away from multiple recordings of works, I feel no need for more Beethoven Symphonies.  I could live with my Immersaal, Karajan '63, and Harnoncourt indefinitely.  I've got a few others (Barenboim, Cluytens, Schuricht, Haitink, Karajan '77) but I don't see thay they add any fundamentally different insights.  I am curious to hear Chailly's new recording of the Brahms Symphonies.

[DavidW]

Böhm's Mozart vs Beethoven. I'll take his Beethoven. Terrific 6 and 9...and sexy too 

Sarge

No room for both?

[Sergeant Rock]

No room for both?

Not in my universe. Mozart: Szell, Harnoncourt, Klemperer.

Sarge

[DavidW]

Not in my universe. Mozart: Szell, Harnoncourt, Klemperer.

Sarge

Such a small list, I guess you don't like Mozart as much as Haydn.

[aquablob]

I could live with my Immersaal, Karajan '63, and Harnoncourt indefinitely.

If you're gonna pick only 3, it's hard to argue with those choices -- so much awesomeness and variety there!

(Immerseel, by the way.)

[Sergeant Rock]

Such a small list, I guess you don't like Mozart as much as Haydn.

Mozart is Top 10. I love a number of Mozart conductors but those three, in the symphonies, are my favorites. Böhm just does't appeal to me at all. He makes Mozart sound like mush. Compare Klemps's 25 with Böhm to see and hear what I mean.

Sarge

[stingo]

My frontrunner is the Haitink/LSO set on the orchestra's own label. The download version is currently listed at 15.98 at Amazon which seems rather low for a 6 SACD set.

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I also have the Harnoncourt previously mentioned, and Brilliant's Sawallisch cycle as well.

[Karl Henning]

My frontrunner is the Haitink/LSO set on the orchestra's own label. The download version is currently listed at 15.98 at Amazon which seems rather low for a 6 SACD set.

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Aye, I enjoyed sampling that one, as well.