Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Mixed Bag - and Listen to #3 Before Buying, March 30, 1999
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete Symphonies [Box Set] (Audio CD)
Muti played a lot of Beethoven during his years in Philadelphia but that should not be taken as an automatic recommendation for this set. There is no perfect set of the complete Beethoven symphonies. Muti does best in the more dramatic works, such as 5 and 7. The 7th was a work he returned to frequently and this is a flaming rendition. But the humor and wit that others (Walter and Monteux, for example) could find in 1, 4 and 8 seem to be total mysteries to Muti and he seems at a loss for what to do during his day in the country (#6). The 9th is a big event but the performance doesn't move you like Furtwangler. It seems cold. The big loss, though, is the 3rd, the "Eroica". Muti did very well with this in concert in the 1980s, when these were recorded but through some incredible error, the original 1988 edition of the performance used a bad take in which the french horn's solo reprise of the 1st movement theme at the start of the racapitulation was MIA. Was he asleep? Were there too many spotmikes and his was turned off? And how did a perfectionist like Muti let it out? In any event, listen to see if this has been fixed before laying out any money. My advice? Pick up Muti's 5 & 7 if available separately but skip the rest. If you want high energy Beethoven in this price range, go for the Solti. If you want something a little more human, then Walter or Monteux, although the latter's 9th is an orphan on another label than Decca/London which has 1 through 8 on a pair of bargain priced "Double Deccas." The weakness of the Walter stereo set is the 5th, which can be remedied by going for Carlos Kleiber's 5 & 7 on DG's "The Originals" series.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incomparable! Bring on 10 stars!, December 18, 2002
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete Symphonies [Box Set] (Audio CD)
I have had this set for a month or two now and have wanted to write a review, but I have been overwhelmed by the idea of critiquing every symphony because each recording is so outstanding in its own right that I wanted to say something about each one. I realize that a few words about some of the recordings say volumes about the whole set. First of all, one of the reviews suggested that this set was more classical in interpretation than the 'bombastic romantic' interpretations by Solti, von Karajan or Furtwangler and even Bruno Walter. Toscanini was a speed [fan] although tender moments do pop out. Another brought out his experience with all of the sets of his Beethoven recordings and tried to compare them. I say that this set is incomparable because there is no set out there to compare it with, because the set has its bombastic moments and tender, classical moments, if you will. For instance, the larghetto movement of the second symphony, which is a struggle between major and minor melodies in only the way Beethoven could weave them. After the recapitulation of the two themes and toward the end of the movement there is an ascending melody lower strings answered in a descending theme by the violins that is so wonderfully and romantically played, the strings soar so beautifully (Muti has a way with Maestoso, such as a passage in the first movement of Tchaikovsky's sixth in a descending scale by the orchestra ) the majesty is astounding. That is not 'classical'! His recordings of the 2nd and 4th are like no others. Maestro Muti also brings out melodies that I have never heard in any other Beethoven redordings. The fifth is a marvel of invention, I know every single note of this symphony by heart and the Maestro brings out things I haven't heard before. The adagio and the finale of the seventh are so wonderful. The second and third movements are a marvel in the 9th also.l also think that the eigth is a marvel. I have heard at least 100 performances of it and non other compare. The third is also a wonder. And to have the overtures. What a wonderful bonus. I almost forgot to mention the 'Pastoral'. I had been waiting for years and years to listen a recording that matched Bruno Walter's old recording of it. The reason is the majesty of the last movement. All the recordings that I owned or listened to did not come close (maybe Ormandy did), but this one did and I am so greatful. I usually graded a Beethoven set by the sensitivity of the sixth. (I used to have several sets of Beethoven but all was lost in a fire several years ago). I cannot end without saying something about the Philadelphia Orchestra's playing. I have said before that Maestro Muti brought a refinement to the orchestra that, I think, adds to their virtuosity. They play so powerfully as well as beautifully. The strings in the second and eigth symphonies as well as the sixth and seventh. The brass powerful yet sensitive. I guess that I could go on and on. I am an unashamed PHO lover and devotee and have been most of my life. I wish the Maestro hadn't left because Sawallisch has brought back the power without the refinement, like he is playing a piano, not a great orchestra. It is just too bad that Maestroes Muti and Ormandy didn't have the new hall to play and record in. I understand that there are also new recordings with the PHO on Deutche Gramaphon. I can hardly wait to hear them. BPO, CSO, CCO Amsterdam, VPO, yes they are great orchestras but PHO you are in your own class and always have been.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mostly So-So and Synthetic Sound, August 6, 2008
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete Symphonies [Box Set] (Audio CD)
I received this set in the 1988 CDS 7 49487 2 issue as a gift. It includes the notorious editing gaffe in the first movement of the "Eroica" (maybe corrected in this incarnation). Muti is a so-so interpreter of these warhorses. He lives me cold except for a rhythmically taut and exciting performance of the Seventh and a good performance of the Fifth.
This is big orchestra Beethoven. When the set was released twenty years ago, the publicity material indicated the recordings were made in three different Philadelphia venues. The fact that the whole set sounds the same is evidence of much post session meddling and artifical reverberation. The result is smooth and synthetic.
There are Beethoven Symphony cycles for every conceivable taste. This one is well played, but with the exception of Nos. 5 and 7, I don't find much on the interpretive front that appeals to me. The waning years of the 20th century saw many duplicative cycles of the symphonies that didn't contribute much to the various conductors' and orchestras' recorded legacies. This, in my humble opinion, is one of those expendable sets. EMI has also released the performances in budget priced individual discs. If you can find Nos. 5 and 7, they are worth investigating. Of more recent efforts, Charles Mackerras (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/EMI) and David Zinman (Zurich Tonhalle/Pro Arte) have some very interesting things to say. Those interested in period instruments should investigate Gardiner on DG. The current cycles conducted by Jarvi(RCA) and Vanska (BIS) are on a very high level interpretively and recorded in state of the art sound.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
