Customer Reviews

Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies [Box Set]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

*Minor updates as of November 2011 are contained within asterisks.*

As a lover of music for some fifty years and a teacher of music history for some forty years, I want to testify that I have never found a set so thoroughly satisfying at every level as this one. The superb playing of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in their own hall, beautifully captured by the Philips engineers, has much to do with it, but Jochum's attention to detail and both the power and the gentleness of his interpretations have always moved me. I have owned some 20 sets of the complete Beethoven symphonies over the years. At present I own nine. I have owned this one on LP, then on audio cassettes, then on separate CDs and now as a set of CDs. I think I probably teased the gods of music into releasing this set in Europe and the USA at a bargain price, because a year or so ago I bought it from Japan via Amazon.de at twice the price. And it has been worth it, even with Japanese notes.

The DG set of the earlier Jochum DG recordings (mono and stereo) with the Berlin and Munich orchestras is lovely, but I let go of it after a few listenings because of the excellence of his stereo Concertgebouw recordings. After years of searching I finally found Jochum's third complete stereo set of the Beethoven Symphonies, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra originally for Reader's Digest and reissued to the general public on CDs by Disky. These performances are to my mind just as fine as those with the Concertgebouw, but my deep love of what I think of as the integrity and virtuosity of the Dutch orchestra together with the matchless acoustics of their hall leads me to value the Philips recordings just a bit more. The LSO set deserves to be reissued and made available at a bargain price.

Of the most recent sets, I would recommend Haitink's recordings with the London Symphony on the LSO label - Haitink in recent years and in his old age has found a source of energy that is lacking in his earlier Beethoven (and Brahms and some Mahler) recordings. Astonishing.

One doesn't often think of Monteux in terms of Beethoven, but if one takes the time to piece together his complete recordings on DECCA (2 Double Deckers) and Westminster (the 9th on one CD), with both the Vienna Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, it is worth every moment of the effort. I hope that Universal will see fit to reissue Monteux's brilliant and powerful Beethoven in a box set some day.

The Han Schmidt-Isserstedt / Vienna Philharmonic bargain box on DECCA, with all of the Beethoven Symphonies and Concertos (Backhaus and Szeryng), contains great performances - check it out! And Kubelik and Fricsay are not be be passed by. And, for the record, I am impressed by the late Bernstein set with the Vienna Philharmonic on DG.

*I have also recently re(discovered) Charles Munch's Beethoven series with the Boston Symphony, made for RCA in early days of stereo in the mid 1950s. He whips the 9th to a furious pace, but his 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th are delightful. As best as I can tell, Munch never recorded the 2nd and the 4th. For the 9th, Leinsdorf offers a fine performance with the Boston Symhony Orchestra on a 1969 RCA recording.

There are many historic recordings to choose from. Given what I have already written, it is not surprising that I have chosen to keep the 1940 Mengelberg recordings with the Concergebouw Orchestra (and a few with the New York Philharmonic)* as restored by Andrew Rose of Pristine Classical Audio - the clarified sound is astonishing.*

And there are now a good number of period instrument / period style cycles available, too. I've never heard a set that I didn't like to some degree,* but I keep only the 2010 Krivine / La Chambre Philharmonique set on my shelves and repeatedly find new pleasures when listening to the performances. As an addendum, I treasure Herreweghe's 9th along with his Missa Solemnis. *

If I had to choose just one Beethoven set of the symphonies to live with, and in a few years age will require me to downsize my collection radically, I would without doubt choose the Beethoven of Jochum and the Concertgebouw to accompany me in my final years and lead me into the long, dark night.

This set was the second of Eugen Jochum's three Beethoven symphony cycles, after his rather haywire 1950s set played by two orchestras, reissued by DG about two years ago, and his more plain later one on EMI with the LSO. This Philips one is clearly the best, and until know has only been available complete as a boxed set on expensive CDs from Japan.

It was recorded between 1967 and 1969 and sounds excellent, as one would expect being recorded in the Concertgebouw - in fact I was amazed at how good these sound, with excellent balances and no perceptible tape hiss.

The Concertgebouw in the 1960s seemed to have a slightly Francophone sound, with powerful if lean strings, and intense brass - especially the horns which occasionally aren't quite as full as listeners who tend to hear these works played by Austro-German orchestras might expect.

The performances here are very fine, with four absolute crackers: the Second, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth. The Second is in fact one of the very best I've heard, ranking alongside the recordings by conductors as diverse as Kubelik on DG, Harnoncourt and Jansons (the last one on SACD). This comes between a nicely played, enjoyable but unremarkable First and an Eroica which like Karajan's 1961 version, starts well and builds into a performance of real stature. The only minor snag is the slightly recessed quality of the horns, particularly in the last two movements.

The Fourth is nearly in the same class as the Second, beautifully played with great impetus, just a shade more relaxed than Karajan's 1961 Fourth which is perhaps a tad finer, but not by much.

The Fifth and Sixth are both good readings which just fall short of greatness - the Fifth is a fine, classical performance, very well played: the highlight is the excellent Andante, though in the Scherzo the horns again are not as full as in say Kleiber's famous DG version.

The `Pastoral' is very pleasing and again superbly played, though some might find Jochum's tempi for the opening two movements slightly leisurely. Others may simply luxuriate in the performance. This doesn't quite equal the glorious DG account by the Orchestre de Paris under Kubelik, or Klemperer's EMI CD, but this is a performance which is easy to enjoy.

Jochum is really on top form for the last three symphonies: after the fabulous Seventh (direct and superbly performed, with plenty of drama without trying to blast the listener out of his seat), the Eighth, like the Second, is one of the finest ever recorded, with superb playing, recording (excellent balances with woodwind beautifully clear) and a fine interpretation, full of stylish touches.

The Choral is performed on the grandest possible scale, with electrifying playing and fine singing from the chorus and relatively unknown Dutch soloists - sample the superb recititative from the Bible-black bass. Jochum's intrepretation here is clearly modelled on the famous ones from the WWII and post-war period, like Furtwangler's 1942 Berlin and 1954 live Philharmonia accounts - but here presented in stunning stereo. This is perhaps finer and certainly grander than Fricsay's 1958 DG version as there the chorus sound rather too distant.

I won't quite give this five stars - four and a half would be accurate. There are absolutely no misfires here, so it compares favourably to Karajan's 1960s cycle which has just as many hits (the Eroica, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh and Ninth but where the First and Pastoral disappoint) - I still strongly recommend Jochum, even as a first Beethoven cycle.

Like many music lovers, I first associated the name Eugen Jochum with the music of Bruckner. However, this set shows a true affinity with Beethoven's music, in a manner comparable to Furtwangler and Weingartner. One could in fact call Jochum's interpretive style as belonging to the Grand German Tradition of combining expressive freedom with structural awareness. Yet, like Rudolf Kempe, Jochum is no mere imitator, but rather, a CREATIVE interpreter who has clearly evolved his own ideas into a most compelling whole. Comparing this cycle with his earlier DG set of the Nine, I would say that his interpretive profile is basically the same, but executed with even greater intensity and vigor. This is not a matter of faster tempi, but of sharper emphases, greater tranparency of textures, and leaner sonorities, in short, an intensification of the features that made his earlier set outstanding. I would not want to be without the DG set, as it has its own special qualities, but if forced to choose between the two, I could choose the Philips, for its outstanding stereo sound and the consistency of using one orchestra for the whole cycle. As for the performances themselves, there is not a single weak moment in any of them; but if forced to single out a single symphony, I would have to point to the truly spiritual fervor of the "Choral" Symphony as the epitome of Jochum's almost mystical connection with Beethoven (this is VERY much a Furtwanglerian trait!). But then, there are also the motoric tension and drive of the "Eroica", the sudden sunburst of sound beginning the Finale of the Fifth, and the joyous rhythms of the Seventh (listen to the First Movement Coda for its subtle expansions and voicing of the bass passages, and compare to Weingartner and Furtwangler). It seems that Eugen Jochum clearly belongs in the ranks of the very few MASTERLY Beethoven conductors, and along with Rudolf Kempe, (and probably Joseph Keilberth, if his "Ring" is any measure)the very last representative of the German School of conducting. I'm curious to know what other listeners think of this cycle.

There are currently two Eugen Jochum Beethoven cycles available, both labelled "Original Masters" - one from DG and now this one from Philips. While the former is partly mono and uses two German orchestras (Berliner Philharmoniker and Bavarian RSO), the present set is in stereo and boasts Concertgebouw Orchestra and the excellent acoustics of its venue, the Concertgebouw.

Jochum's interpretations are as always flexible and subjective, like Furtwängler's - even if he avoids the extremes of the latter conductor. Thus, as in his earlier set, the standard is old school grandeur. Generally, however, the selected tempi in Jochum's Dutch remakes are more brisk than those in his earlier German cycle.

Still, timings don't tell us everything. In fact, the Dutch remakes appear to be both somewhat slower and smoother because there are fewer tempo changes. Nonetheless, Jochum's interpretations are very beautiful, demonstrating his masterly understanding of this music. In addition, we get outstanding playing and superb sound.

In sum, my conclusion is that serious Beethoven collectors need Jochum's Dutch cycle, despite his more mellow interpretations. It has interesting insights to offer, even if compared with Jochum's earlier, clearly superior set. So I advice you to pick the DG cycle as well, if you want to hear Jochum's Beethoven at its very best. (The one-cycle seeker, however, should consider Klemperer's classic Beethoven cycle on EMI as the first choice.)

I don't have this box set right now but have four of the five individual Phillips discs in my possession. I've heard the disc with symphonies 4 & 7 before (it is also a very fine disc to boot). I especially don't agree with your one reviewer that said that this "Pastoral" was dull. That's very far from the truth because I find it a very sunny version that's about my favorite of all-time. The fifth is very good without being the absolute best of all-time, but it's still much better than the reviewer (who gave this set a three star rating) who panned this performance said. I guess that Jochum fans will like this set much better than non-admirers (he's one of my top three conductors of all-time), but I think most people would give this about a four star rating on average. Listen more to the other reviewer that gave this a four star rating and not the one reviewer that's a top 500 reviewer who gave it a three star review. Also, the Eroica is much better than he stated. I just don't know where he's coming from there. If you're looking for a good boxed set, you really shouldn't feel shortchanged if you buy this set.

Several of the 8 reviews that precede this show quite clearly one of the problems facing Classical Music in the 21st Century - a total lack of comprehension of what classical music should sound like. Jochum's Phillips cycle represents the grand Beethoven conduction of the previous century - one not concerned with "inner voices" and psychological claptrap as Karajan heard and forced us to hear in his Beethoven and not beset (or is the better verb 'besotted'?) with Rattle's need to be different and stunning incomprehension of the tradition he purports to represent. This is great Beethoven in the same league as that of Bruno Walter, Klemperer, Eric Kleiber, Reiner et al and Jochum's younger contemporary, Kurt Masur whose early 1970's cycle, also on Phillips, is quite similar in approach to Jochum's but not to my mind as compelling. One can't have too much of a good thing when it comes to the Beethoven symphonies and I'm grateful to have these finally available in CD to join the cycles of Walter, Klemperer, Ansermet, Masur, Bohm, Mackerras, Hogwood, Zinman, Norrington among others on my shelves.

Jochum is very different on this set than the previous one on DG. The hallmark of this set is his very caring restraint in treating each symphony and this shows most clearly on #6 and especially #7. By restraint, I mean a very 'classical' approach which is like holding the reins on a team of horses and not quite giving them full release, so you feel a sense of inner tension. This is quite different than changing tempos as in the DG set. Overall, I wouldn't say it is my favorite set, but the sound quality, especially the balance, the fine singing in #9, and especially the classical restraint I mentioned make this a must have for collectors.

The Concertgebouw acoustics and the Orchestra's playing are incredible - you'll never hear French horns and woodwind like it - cannot imagine how this set could ever be improved on - the finale to the 'Eroica' made a believer of me.Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies [Box Set]

Jochum is a superb Beethoven interpreter. None of the histrionics of some cycles. No over the top interpretations trying to re-invent Ludwig. Just old fashioned great conducting. For example, the Third brings out the pageantry and the heroic flows beautifully from start to finish. The Fifth is well balanced, just right. The Sixth connects with nature in the manner that Beethoven composed it. The Eighth dances, is exquisitely paced, and a seminal interpretation that quashes the competition. The sound quality is excellent, up to recording's best for that era. Snatch it up for the listening pleasure.

To many American record collectors, Eugen Jochum is in danger of being typed as Maestro Bruckner, but in fact he recorded the whole standard repertoire from Bach to Brahms as well as many operas. I will say right off that for me Jochum defines the term Kapellmeister (as do Sawallisch, Leitner, Kempe, and quite a few others)--a well-trained, predictable, meat-and-potatoes musician falling short of real inspiration. The main thing that sets Jochum apart is that he was given to quirky rubato and idiosyncratic phrasing.

But not here. Jochum toes the line in Beethoven, hardly daring to step outside traditional conventions. Decca's stereo sound from 1967-69 is warm, open, and natural; the Concertgebouw, then fairly well established under the young Haitink, plays with exemplary style but not enough impetuosity. The reviewer below is much fonder of these performances than I am-- so was the Gramophone reviewer--but here's my thumbnail sketch.

Sym. 1: As ordinary and middle of the road as it gets. Jochum's manner is mild and polite throughout, and the orchestra follows suit with plain-faced expression.

Sym. 2: This work has inspired quite a few conductors to rise to the occasion (Karajan and Bernstein come to mind), especially in the lovely Larghetto. Jochum isn't on fire, but this is a much better reading than #1, even though it, too, is kept safely within bounds. Jochum seems intent on keeping this early work within Haydn's world, so if that's what you want, the performance is well played, if lacking in Haydnesque brio.

Sym. 3: In Beethoven's greatest symphonies nothing less than a great interpretation will do. Jochum came to maturity hearing Weingartner, Furtwangler and Toscanini, but you'd never know it from this Eroica. It's competent, middle of the road, every revolutionary impulse reined in. I'd expect to hear its like any day if I happened to drop in on a subscription concert in Germany. Jochum's underplaying of the funeral march baffles me. Are we on our way to a pet cemetery?

Sym. 4: You don't often hear this music played with more vigor than the Eroica, but Jochum does. This is a clean, carefully proportioned performance otherwise, harking back to his way with the First and Second. For prettiness it can't be faulted. But Beethoven put more muscle and sinew into this music than you can tell from Jochum's tidy approach.

Sym. 5: By this point I was perversely wondering if Jochum could remain unexcited by every single Beethoven symphony. However, this is an honest Fifth with the requisite heroics. The first movement, in fact, displays the kind of energy that should have been present in the Eroica and Fourth. The Andante is too slack, but Jochum builds nicely to the finale, which is of the kind admirers call controlled--in any event, it won't make your blood race. Very backward horns and trombones.

Sym. 6: The first movement is lumbering, a fault one doesn't associate with Jochum. Beethoven wanted us to feel joy at arriving in the country; Jochum feels happy to get out of the car and take a nap. The second movement is also measured and lacking in emotional response. No need to go into further detail, since nothing improves. In all, a truly lazy, dull reading.

Sym. 7: Jochum's Seventh starts off very well, with gorgeous sounds from the Concertgebouw and perfect balance in the tricky slow introduction. I anticipated a big letdown in energy for the Allegro section, but Jochum comes through with vigor, despite badly recessed horns. Thankfully the Allegretto doesn't lumber; it's straightforward, even if Jochum pays little attention to Beethoven's softest dynamic markings. The Scherzo is respectable--one of the better movements in the whole cycle--leading to a finale that's safe and middle-aged.

Sym. 8: Clearly Jochum feels more at home in the even-numbered symphonies, for here is an exemplary Eighth, done with brio and lovely balances. It's neither fast nor slow but just right. The best thing in the cycle by far up to this point.

Sym. 9: We're on a bit of a roll now. I hadn't the slightest hope that Jochum was going to thrill or move me deeply in the Ninth. The world needs another mediocre Beethoven Ninth aobut as much as it needs another thousand Saturns on the road, but in fact Jochum comes thorugh with a sober, clean, well played performance that's preferable to versions by Muti, Maazel, and Mehta. Nothing eccentric or daring happens here; the flow of the piece is kept intact, and its noble feelings are paid respect. The solo quartet in the finale are all satisfactory veteran singers, except for the out-of-tune tenor.

To justify 6 CDs, Philips provides a fairly complete batch of overtures. One of the maverick reviewers at Amazon stated that he could assemble a perfectly fine library of classics from despised and underrated conductors, mentioning Jochum, Leinsdorf, and Ormandy. Given the blandness of this Beethoven cycle, I can only say: Let's see you try.