Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Choral
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Composer: Ludwig van BeethovenConductor: Wilhelm Furtwangler
Orchestra: Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
Performer: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Performer: Otto Edelmann
Performer: Hans Hopf
Performer: Elisabeth Hongen
Performer: Bayreuth Festival Choir
Edition: Music CD
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1999-01-12
Music Label: EMI Classics
Soundtracks:
- Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Op. 125 'Choral': Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
- Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Op. 125 'Choral': Molto vivace
- Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Op. 125 'Choral': Adagio molto e cantabile - Andante moderato - Adagio
- Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Op. 125 'Choral': Presto - Allegro ma non troppo - Allegro Assai - Allegro assai vivace - alla marcia - Andante maestoso - Allegro - Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato - Allegro ma non tanto - Poco adagio - Prestissimo
Music reviews of Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Choral
Music Review: A towering, spiritually intense 9th
Rating: 4 Stars
Yes, there are better recorded performances. but in terms of spiritual energy, this is hard to beat. I never heard a recording where the conductor has a complete grasp of coherence and variety at the same time. Look at 1st mov: lyrical, sober, serious but tender, taking time to "say " but without being sluggish. That is toscanini's mistake: this is not fiery bravura. When I have listened to WF for first time, I had already known,and liked, Toscanini, but immediately thought this, with 17.30 min, IS the way to perform it, not AT's 13.30 min. And I have to find a better coda in the universe of records. Overall, perhaps this is less fiery than 1942's WF recording, but with better grasp of sense of architecture, more fluid indeed. Alas, the recapitulation is not as great as it should. A pitty brass is hidden. Look at recent Berlin Abbado (DG) to know how should this be performed. WF shows great timpani part but strings and winds are a bit recessed. It is not a great, monumental moment as it should. Too "static". But overall, very fine. As I have said, lack of instrumental balance is a disadvantage of the whole recording (not a problem with Abbado). What Abbado lacks is the unique sense of occasion and spiritual wisdom WFoffers to us. So it is no difficult to admit perhaps there is not an ideal 9th (or yes? they say G Wand on RCA made a great digital recording. I don`t know it)
Second mov is great. Much fire. Not details, maybe, but a contrast with the relatively (compared with this) relaxed 1st mov. Another Toscanini mistake: all these are very dramatic, no great contrast. WF performs AABCAB (omits repeat of second section, before the trio). The trio is lyrical, and I should liked to hear more from the horns, too hidden. I liked how WF does the repeats after the trio. More powerful, I think.Again, near the ideal.
3rd mov has the famous horn blooper. Don't worry. It is the best 3rd ever recorded.Yes, it takes 19.30 min, buy with such masterful control of dinamics and a real "breath" of emotions that make you think you want more. In short, he still manages to make a fluid account. And when you hhear the fanfarres towards the end, it is like an orgasm. This mov is much better played than the 1942's: not techically, but spiritually. In Berlin, the playing is more refined but too slow, too plain, too flaccid. In 1951 dinamics have more contrast, music really breath. Buy just for this mov.
4th mov.Would have been ideal but the choir!!! Sounds awfull. Much vibrato, and recoded far, far away from microphones. When you hear the fugue, just the soprano part is heard. And please look for another recording to listen to the words the choir is singing. Beethoven would not approve thsi recording, perhaps the performance. Soloists are fine; look at the booklet and you will see the font size of the name of the soprano is a bit greater than the rest of the soloist. Sure ES is famous! But it has a correlate with music: she sings above the rest, disrupting vocal balance! Too much soprano sound (I think Abbado is more "democratic"). Overal, a much intense finale. The doublebass passage at the beggining is a bit flaccid,more foccused in 1942. On the other hand, in 1951 timpani part, although clearly audible, is not so disturbing as it is in 1942. The Joy theme I would have liked to be a bit faster and more focused, but is wonderfull to hear first the long pause he takes to begin with the doublebass melody and how the violins rush and fastens to the great wind tutti. I stress in the last mov that horns are barely audible, but trumpets are prominent. This can be a disadvantage, but here that poweful sound makes reververation with the accoustics, creating a "cosmic" effect which is hard to forget.The instrimental fugue is fast enough (not so fast as it is in 1942) and the reprise of the joy theme by the whole chorus is magnificent. The solemn passage is well done and the fugue "alla marcia" really sound like that, but as I said forget to follow the words. I forgot the famous tenor passage, very exciting. Surprisingly, in the 1942 recording you simply can`t listen to the last, "heroic" tenor part -obscured by the choir or a performance omission??? ...-, a pity (here, a model of how this must be sung). The last part of the symphony is really sublime. Then comes a deserved applause.
As I have implied, this recording is very rewarding. A paramount interpretation. The reason I put 4 instead of 5 is that there must be a better way of performace. I dont know if this has been achieved or not. With more transparency but with grandeur. with better and more foccused playing (please, the techicall defects of this recoring only show themselves in a few places. Consider this was a special performance, anxiety surely affected musicians). But I don't think anyone can surpass the intensity and overall sense of structure WF gave in 1951.
Description of Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Choral
Made in USA. cd is free of scratches. Hardly used. May be some handling wear to the cd case.No single performance will ever tell us everything we need to know about a masterpiece like the Beethoven Ninth, but this one comes close. The inspired intensity of everyone involved--at the postwar reopening of the Bayreuth Festival in 1951--comes across very vividly in this new transfer. Just hear the way Furtwángler evokes the atmosphere of chaos coalescing into order at the opening of the first movement and you can tell a superior musical and spiritual consciousness is at work. Except for the poor first horn, whose bloopers are the main detriment, the orchestra, soloists, and chorus (recorded clearly but at a heavenly distance) all hold up their parts extremely well. The solo singers are particularly convincing. This is a very special recording, recognized as a classic when it was first issued and still indispensable. --Leslie Gerber
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