Lens of Truth
03-02-2010, 04:27 AM
In response to a request, the complete symphonies of Beethoven:
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONIES NOS. 1 & 2
(Gunter Wand, North German Radio Symphony Orchestra)
A live concert recording, and among the very last by this great conductor. Listen to the succulent orchestral swells of the first symphony's introduction, the pointed rhythms of the Allegro (not at the expense of texture or natural ebb and flow), the floating Larghetto of the second, the effortless, joyful interplay of rustling strings and liquid woodwinds throughout. Wand nurtures everything with warmth and affection - qualities this music needs, if it's to transcend the commonplace "Haydn with growing pains" designation.
http://rapidshare.com/files/352437969/Beethoven1_2Wand.rar
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONIES NOS. 3 "EROICA" & 4
(David Zinman, Tonhalle Zurich)
This disc is special for me: a revelatory performance of the "Eroica", a symphony that, even at 16 in the throes of Beethoven mania, I hadn't fully connected with. I suppose what I enjoy so much is the fleetness and sheer classicism of it. Sometimes this incomparably witty, imaginative piece can be (perversely) bogged down with the weight of 'history'; the heroic programme is never so obvious, so one dimensional, so lumbering as some conductors would have us believe (or, at least, it needn't be). Zinman begins on the right foot by using the scholarly B�renreiter 'Urtext' edition of the score that corrects many mistakes and alterations made over the years; two of the most felicitous, in addition to many subtle dynamic adjustments, are the warning call of a muted trumpet in the first movement development and the transition to string quartet in the teasing lead-in to the 'Prometheus' waltz theme of the finale. Speaking of that final movement, what a wondrous and truly symphonic set of variations it is! From the mincing pizzicato opening, to the tempestuous central section, to the breathtaking, rollicking coda, played for all it’s worth here. The fourth symphony is equally lively - spot on in fact. And if the slow introduction is played with less atmosphere than it has been elsewhere, it only serves to emphasise its role in mischieviously suggesting everything that this symphony is not.
http://rapidshare.com/files/352410668/Beethoven3_4Zinman.rar
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONIES NOS. 5 & 7
(Carlos Kleiber, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)
Stunning performances that hardly require another recommendation from me. Kleiber gets both the exciting surface and the pounding heart of these amazing works. As a pair, the 5th and the 7th are Beethoven's most concentrated and rigourous in their motivic development, and, really, that’s what Beethoven is all about! The first movement of the C minor has more bite than any other I’ve heard; you can really marvel at the inspiration of this glorious fantasia of rhythm. Every important episode is handled with verve and panache: the impassioned Andante, the Scherzo’s bustling fugato, the soaring cinematics of the Finale (can anyone else hear a bit of John Williams in pre-echo here?). Symphony No.7 is my all-time favourite, and surely one of the most rapturous, heartening pieces of music ever written. Again, like the previous work, the opening Vivace establishes a rhythmic figure, this time a skipping, dancing dotted rhythm, and works it through the whole movement to breathtaking effect. The Allegretto has gravitas, nobility and elegance. The Trio in the third movement (2:10) is done powerfully and idiomatically, and the toing and froing of sections is capped off with brilliant flippancy. Another delight are the antiphonal duelling violins over a semitonal bass in the final movement. This whirlwind of a piece will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up (works for me anyhow ;)).
http://rapidshare.com/files/353220250/Beethoven5_7Kleiber.rar
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONY NO. 6 "PASTORAL"
(Sir Colin Davis, Staatskapelle Dresden)
All the virtues of the famous Karl Bohm reading with the added benefit of modern sound. It’s a pure joy to hear the glowing yet fibrous tones of the Staatskapelle Dresden in this rich detailed recording. If you’re familiar with Colin Davis you’ll know the kind of sturdy, uneccentric performance to expect. He gives the long lines all the sweep and reach they need, but also brings chugging rhythms to the fore. The barking horns at the transition points of the Scherzo, for instance, have the correct prominence (a rarity on disc). Another favourite moment is the radiant burst of tremolo strings at 7:35ish in the last movement (the bit in Fantasia when we see Apollo driving his blazing chariot across the sky – Disney got something right after all!).
http://uploadmirrors.com/download/1XSS4VC2/BeethovenPastoralDavis.rar
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONIES NOS. 7 & 8
(Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Orchestre R�volutionnaire Et Romantique)
The 8th Symphony is what this is all about (though the first movement of the 7th is damn good too). Simply the best overall performance I’ve encountered. Gardiner really gets the bit between his teeth and captures the boisterous humour and bipolarity of Beethoven at his most ‘unbuttoned’. The lean period instruments really add to the impact. Listen to the unison octave head-banging at the climax of the first movement exposition (1:50). Then there’s possibly the most convulsive development he ever wrote; from 4:38 especially, the sweetly-turned head motif from the opening gets bashed around until it’s black and blue! And lest we forget the mania of the finale, with its sublimely tongue-in-cheek coda.
http://rapidshare.com/files/353198060/Beethoven7_8Gardiner.rar
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONIES NO. 9 "CHORAL"
(Sir Georg Solti, Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
The 9th is a tricky one. Everyone has their favourite performance. Solti’s is big-boned and unashamedly romantic, but also clear sighted, with an inner momentum and sense of the larger driving structure. The opening Allegro Maestoso (and boy does it have majesty here!) has always been my favourite – it has the rigourousness of the best of the earlier symphonies, but with a new flowing, rhapsodic quality (Brahms and Bruckner would pick up from this point). Again, I’d like to direct you to the climax of this movement for a highlight of both the performance and Beethoven’s vivid genius: the torrent of emotion seems to trickle away at 16:25 and a terrifying slow crescendo emerges that’s like no other music Beethoven composed; turning over on itself, until the strings cry out in anguish (17:00), silenced by the broken minor chord from the beginning.
http://rapidshare.com/files/353193004/Beethoven9Solti.rar
Note:
I have no computer of my own at the moment, just an external HD. For some reason I can’t get mirror sites to work on the setup I’m using, so apologies for rapidshare. If mirrors are required, let me know and I’ll see what I can sort out. Perhaps someone knows of a site that does remote url uploads of more than 100MB?
**This thread is intended for expansion, so please add your own favs!**
"Symphony No.10" coming soon :)
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONIES NOS. 1 & 2
(Gunter Wand, North German Radio Symphony Orchestra)
A live concert recording, and among the very last by this great conductor. Listen to the succulent orchestral swells of the first symphony's introduction, the pointed rhythms of the Allegro (not at the expense of texture or natural ebb and flow), the floating Larghetto of the second, the effortless, joyful interplay of rustling strings and liquid woodwinds throughout. Wand nurtures everything with warmth and affection - qualities this music needs, if it's to transcend the commonplace "Haydn with growing pains" designation.
http://rapidshare.com/files/352437969/Beethoven1_2Wand.rar
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONIES NOS. 3 "EROICA" & 4
(David Zinman, Tonhalle Zurich)
This disc is special for me: a revelatory performance of the "Eroica", a symphony that, even at 16 in the throes of Beethoven mania, I hadn't fully connected with. I suppose what I enjoy so much is the fleetness and sheer classicism of it. Sometimes this incomparably witty, imaginative piece can be (perversely) bogged down with the weight of 'history'; the heroic programme is never so obvious, so one dimensional, so lumbering as some conductors would have us believe (or, at least, it needn't be). Zinman begins on the right foot by using the scholarly B�renreiter 'Urtext' edition of the score that corrects many mistakes and alterations made over the years; two of the most felicitous, in addition to many subtle dynamic adjustments, are the warning call of a muted trumpet in the first movement development and the transition to string quartet in the teasing lead-in to the 'Prometheus' waltz theme of the finale. Speaking of that final movement, what a wondrous and truly symphonic set of variations it is! From the mincing pizzicato opening, to the tempestuous central section, to the breathtaking, rollicking coda, played for all it’s worth here. The fourth symphony is equally lively - spot on in fact. And if the slow introduction is played with less atmosphere than it has been elsewhere, it only serves to emphasise its role in mischieviously suggesting everything that this symphony is not.
http://rapidshare.com/files/352410668/Beethoven3_4Zinman.rar
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONIES NOS. 5 & 7
(Carlos Kleiber, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)
Stunning performances that hardly require another recommendation from me. Kleiber gets both the exciting surface and the pounding heart of these amazing works. As a pair, the 5th and the 7th are Beethoven's most concentrated and rigourous in their motivic development, and, really, that’s what Beethoven is all about! The first movement of the C minor has more bite than any other I’ve heard; you can really marvel at the inspiration of this glorious fantasia of rhythm. Every important episode is handled with verve and panache: the impassioned Andante, the Scherzo’s bustling fugato, the soaring cinematics of the Finale (can anyone else hear a bit of John Williams in pre-echo here?). Symphony No.7 is my all-time favourite, and surely one of the most rapturous, heartening pieces of music ever written. Again, like the previous work, the opening Vivace establishes a rhythmic figure, this time a skipping, dancing dotted rhythm, and works it through the whole movement to breathtaking effect. The Allegretto has gravitas, nobility and elegance. The Trio in the third movement (2:10) is done powerfully and idiomatically, and the toing and froing of sections is capped off with brilliant flippancy. Another delight are the antiphonal duelling violins over a semitonal bass in the final movement. This whirlwind of a piece will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up (works for me anyhow ;)).
http://rapidshare.com/files/353220250/Beethoven5_7Kleiber.rar
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONY NO. 6 "PASTORAL"
(Sir Colin Davis, Staatskapelle Dresden)
All the virtues of the famous Karl Bohm reading with the added benefit of modern sound. It’s a pure joy to hear the glowing yet fibrous tones of the Staatskapelle Dresden in this rich detailed recording. If you’re familiar with Colin Davis you’ll know the kind of sturdy, uneccentric performance to expect. He gives the long lines all the sweep and reach they need, but also brings chugging rhythms to the fore. The barking horns at the transition points of the Scherzo, for instance, have the correct prominence (a rarity on disc). Another favourite moment is the radiant burst of tremolo strings at 7:35ish in the last movement (the bit in Fantasia when we see Apollo driving his blazing chariot across the sky – Disney got something right after all!).
http://uploadmirrors.com/download/1XSS4VC2/BeethovenPastoralDavis.rar
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONIES NOS. 7 & 8
(Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Orchestre R�volutionnaire Et Romantique)
The 8th Symphony is what this is all about (though the first movement of the 7th is damn good too). Simply the best overall performance I’ve encountered. Gardiner really gets the bit between his teeth and captures the boisterous humour and bipolarity of Beethoven at his most ‘unbuttoned’. The lean period instruments really add to the impact. Listen to the unison octave head-banging at the climax of the first movement exposition (1:50). Then there’s possibly the most convulsive development he ever wrote; from 4:38 especially, the sweetly-turned head motif from the opening gets bashed around until it’s black and blue! And lest we forget the mania of the finale, with its sublimely tongue-in-cheek coda.
http://rapidshare.com/files/353198060/Beethoven7_8Gardiner.rar
BEETHOVEN - SYMPHONIES NO. 9 "CHORAL"
(Sir Georg Solti, Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
The 9th is a tricky one. Everyone has their favourite performance. Solti’s is big-boned and unashamedly romantic, but also clear sighted, with an inner momentum and sense of the larger driving structure. The opening Allegro Maestoso (and boy does it have majesty here!) has always been my favourite – it has the rigourousness of the best of the earlier symphonies, but with a new flowing, rhapsodic quality (Brahms and Bruckner would pick up from this point). Again, I’d like to direct you to the climax of this movement for a highlight of both the performance and Beethoven’s vivid genius: the torrent of emotion seems to trickle away at 16:25 and a terrifying slow crescendo emerges that’s like no other music Beethoven composed; turning over on itself, until the strings cry out in anguish (17:00), silenced by the broken minor chord from the beginning.
http://rapidshare.com/files/353193004/Beethoven9Solti.rar
Note:
I have no computer of my own at the moment, just an external HD. For some reason I can’t get mirror sites to work on the setup I’m using, so apologies for rapidshare. If mirrors are required, let me know and I’ll see what I can sort out. Perhaps someone knows of a site that does remote url uploads of more than 100MB?
**This thread is intended for expansion, so please add your own favs!**
"Symphony No.10" coming soon :)
