Customer Reviews

Beethoven - The Symphonies Boxset / Herbert von Karajan, Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Jess Thomas, Walter Berry, Berlin Philharmoniker

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For many lovers of Beethoven's Symphonies, Karajan's 1962 integrated set of the nine (available as a CD box set from DGG) is the best available. For some (but not me), that collection is definitive: individual symphonies may vary in quality of performance, they say, but in toto, as a unified vision of these orchestral masterpieces, there is no finer set. In his later years, with the dawning of the digital era, Karajan re-recorded the Beethoven Nine. I purchased those autumnal efforts as they were released. I found them to be slow, essentially lackluster performances. They were filmed as well, and when this DVD set was initially offered for sale, I feared it contained films of those later, inferior recordings. Thankfully, it does not.

These performances date from the late 1960's - early 1970's. In many ways, they may be the best Beethoven recordings Karajan ever made. Those of you familiar with Carlos Kleiber's recordings of the 5th and 7th Symphonies might be interested to know that Karajan's 5th (lasting 30 minutes) and 7th (34 minutes) have a comparable urgency of expression. They are powerful, fleet explorations of these two ubiquitous works. His 5th is almost as fast as Roger Norrington's speed-freak version. It is as if Karajan sensed the future onslaught of period performances and was determined to pre-empt them.

The 1st (23 minutes) and 2nd (31 minutes) are Haydnesque Symphonies and Karajan conducts them as such. He gives them a Classical grace with a hint of the Beethovenian power to come. I love Beethoven's even-numbered symphonies; beautifully serene and graceful works that are less frequently played. They strike me as more personal expressions of Beethoven's genius, as if he had nothing to prove but his love for Music. The Berlin Philharmonic are like a thoroughbred horse, capable of instantaneously responding to the slightest touch of the reins. Watching Karajan conduct with eyes closed and only the slightest movement of his body is fascinating and the reason why DVD performances will inevitably replace the CD.

The "Eroica" (lasting 48 minutes) is played beautifully; Karajan crafts this structure with intelligence. Though embracing the mystery inherent in this inexplicable masterpiece, his performance flaunts Beethoven's revolutionary clarion call by urgently weaving the strands of fate. This inevitable tension is barely resolved by the repetitive dance-like themes of the final movement. A wonderful performance. The 4th (31 minutes) and 8th (25 minutes) Symphonies are a return to the sound-world of Haydn. Karajan conducts them as if they mean something and not as a mere afterthought; thoroughly enjoyable performances that had me conducting along with him. Thankfully, I was alone and unobserved.

The 6th Symphony, the "Pastoral" (lasting 36 minutes), is lovely, lyrical and serene. It evokes exactly what Beethoven wished to portray, the beauty and majesty of nature. Karajan loses himself in this evergreen score. An exquisite and delicate performance that I immediately replayed. The final work, the 9th Symphony (64 minutes) is sung by a masterful quartet of Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Jess Thomas and Walter Berry, all at their peak. All except Thomas are Karajan regulars. Filmed on New Year's, 1968, this is a fleeter, fiercer, more dramatic 9th than Karajan's previously recorded versions. He himself directs the film of this performance, using the camera to emphasize the twists and turns of the work. This is an excellent version of Beethoven's ultimate Symphony.

The films of these Symphonies all add to the enjoyment. Artistic self-indulgences are minimized. There are no slap-to-the-forehead, My-God-what-were-they-thinking? moments. The LPCM stereo and DTS 5.1 sound (the best sounding format) are both crystal clear, never betraying the age of these films. The performances are uniformly excellent, making this three DVD set nearly self-recommending. Watching them one can see why Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic were so admired, way back when the world was young.

Thank heavens that the protracted wrangling between DG and Unitel seems to have been amicably resolved and this long-admired set of Beethoven symphony films has reached DVD.
Karajan was arguably at the apex of his conducting career in the late 1960s and early 1970s and this set - laid down between 1967-1972 - captures this gloriously.

The superbly-honed Berlin Philharmonic respond to their maestro as if one man and Karajan is certainly the embodiment of what the Germans call fingerspitzengefuehl - a combination of experience and intuitive instinct. He had, after all, lived and breathed these peaks of the orchestral repertoire for many years and that knowledge and feel for the works pays off here in spades.

Karajan's keen interest in film-making is also showcased as he directs symphonies 4, 5 and 9 himself. Other celebrated directors take the helm for the remaining symphonies, including an endlessly fascinating Pastoral from Hugo Niebeling whose arty shots and quirky, psychadelic take could only be a product of the 1960s and which distills an interesting collision between high art and flower power - definitely one to see and one I have returned to time again. A sense of experimentation is also evident - a stunning Eroica has the BPO parcelled-up into inverted triangular segments (ancient Greek theatre is brought to mind) while the glossy floor under Karajan's podium is washed by different colours as the symphony progresses. Some may think it tacky, I found it a refreshing and stimulating visual treat.

As for the performances themselves Karajan's famous 1962 DG cycle on disc and his follow-up 1976 cycle have long been highly recommendable. And though the Beethoven symphonies were well-established in Karajan's conducting schedule over this period, there is not a whiff of routine here. This filmed cycle blends breathtaking elements of both sound-only cycles - fire and ice, pinpoint precision, gloriously sweeping strings, biting brass and that formidable burnished BPO sound. The DTS soundtrack is truly first class.

Image quality is also faultless (in spite of the age of the films) as I imagine 35mm film stock was utilised and it has a warmth and clarity that his later Sony Legacy cycle sadly lacked. His latter performances were good but he was longer in the tooth by that stage and the decision to record the cycle with seemingly no audience present robbed those recordings of a certain sense of realism.
Karajan and his Berliners at this time represented the high water mark of orchestral musicianship and anyone who is even slightly interested in either the works or the superb performers will find their outlay repaid a thousandfold. For fans this is, of course, a no-brainer: do not hesitate.

Superb rendition in exquisite sound of Beethoven's nine symphonies by the orchestra and conductor who inspired a generation of classical music lovers during the 1960s and 1970s. Having attended live performances of this ensemble under Karajan between 1959 and 1983, this stunning set brings back to me the extraordinary experience each of those concert generated. Highly recommended.

This is a DVD version of Herbert Von Karajan's great late '60s early '70s Beethoven cycle. Many of you must have purchased the original audio recordings when they were released by DG on Vinyl back then. They remain, to my ears, absolutely the best interpretations of this repetoire. I've been watching a symphony a day for the last week and they meet or surpass all expectations. The audio is crystal clear, brassy horns, piercing winds, deep resonant cellos and basses and shimmering strings. The video sets retain a bare bones "classic" almost Greek like feel, befitting early 1800s music. However, the subtle, creative use of video is very effective (the horns in the Eroica and the use of light at the climax of the 9th come to mind). Herbert Von Karajan was one of the best, if not the greatest, conductors of Beethoven. It is a treat to see his conducting style at work, the sheer strength of feeling, combined with traditional German reserve and hidden fragility of feeling. Much has been said about Karajan's clouded association with the Nazis. That being said, it does not take one iota from his talent as a great conductor. This is perhaps the best digital recording you will ever see of these works (Yes, Karajan was a pioneer of digital recording). Put aside the politics and enjoy one heck of a ride. Here's a bit of trivia. During the '70s I briefly visited Vienna. Young musicians in America sometimes carry pictures of rock star heroes in their wallets. I remember seeing a young teenaged violinist. Guess whose picture SHE had in HER wallet? You guessed it. None other than Herbert himself! LUDWIG VAN RULES AND OLD HERB LIVES ON IN DVD AS HIS CONDUCTOR!! Enjoy!!

Sound quality: excellent. Performances: excellent, what we would expect from Karajan and the BPO. Visuals: dreadful. Now I am sure it is very difficult to film symphonic music and in some ways these films are enjoyable to watch. But I cannot understand why we have to see the conductor's face and hands for 90% of the time. We never see the faces of the wind, brass, timpani or percussion players and this horrified me. These people have extremely prominent parts in Beethoven's music yet they are dehumanised in the films. When the principal oboe plays the long theme at the beginning of the Eroica's funeral march, what do we see? Karajan's face. Surely, since this performance is not in a concert hall, it would have been possible for us to see the oboist. Likewise in the long introduction to the Fourth, all we see is Karajan's face. The worst of all is the Sixth. Richard Osborne in his biography of Karajan calls this film "an offence against music" and I utterly agree. It is almost sickening to watch (but not to listen to). Roger Vaughan in his biography tells us that Karajan's idea was to give the impression that the instruments make music by themselves, and that we should never lose sight of the conductor. But music is written by humans, for humans, and to be played by humans. Everything in these films points to the conductor. Even in the finale of the Ninth, when the soloists return at the end, we only have a glimpse of them as they sing their poco adagio, then it is all back to Karajan. How the orchestra coped all those years facing him with his eyes closed I cannot imagine. It is refreshing to see him open them in the vocal sections of the Ninth: he actually looks human. Certainly he was a superb conductor and got magnificent results from players and singers, but I suspect I will play these performances with my eyes averted from the screen. The only technical hitch of all is that on my copy of the DVD of the Eroica, the first bar of the funeral march is missing.

This set features performances coming about 6 years after Karajan's 1962/1963 Beethoven cycle. That earlier cycle remains, and will likely remain, the definitive set of Beethoven symphonies for me (among over 100 Beethoven symphony recordings I have). Karajan's Beethoven is not "perfect" -- for example, he always skips some repeats that I deem necessary -- but he and the BPO really brought out all the qualities a modern listener thinks ought to be brought out of Beethoven's symphonies.

The 9 symphonies recorded here are spread out over 3 DVDs. The visual take on all but the 9th was supposed to be artistic; most of them were directed by a renowned French filmmaker. But the visual qualities are uneven and on the whole unsatisfactory. It's not just Karajan dominates the screen time -- as with most other classical videos, the cameramen always seem to favor just a few angles and just a few select musicians.

In terms of musical quality, as I alluded earlier, taken as a whole this is second only to Karajan's earlier cycle. I do like the 3rd symphony on this set a little better, but my friends disagree with me on this. But if you want solid, no, I mean great, Beethoven symphony playing, you won't be disappointed. Obviously, if you don't like the visuals, simply turn off your TV monitor and only listen to the sound.

BTW, this set is better than the 1983 "His Legacy" set in both video and audio; that later set is notorious for focusing way too much on Karajan, and the BPO playing is less coherent than here. Abbado's 2001 set is also nice (see my review there), but IMHO Abbado cannot match Karajan in interpretive power or execution (plus the BPO was already at the start of its downward spiral). So, if you want one DVD set of Beethoven's symphonies to own, this is it.

I have this set and Abbado's of Beethonven 9 symphonies on DVD.

I like both, but I give the edge to Abbado.

The Abbado set is recorded live in Italy (1 to 8) and in Berlin (9). The Italian vs. the German audiences is interesting. The Italians go buffo after each performance (justifiably so!). These DVDs have all the buzz and energy you could ask for from classical live performances. The 9th performed in Berlin is of the same quality. It feels like the audience at a Beach Boys concert, who have heard them sing "good vibrations" 200 times. Maybe they all got their buzz before the concert and are feeling very mellow yellow during the concert. They seem to have way too much starch in their shorts.

The Karajan set features too many close ups of Karajan with pans to some of the players every once in a while. The camera work is maybe 1 tenth as good as the Abbado set. Both Karajan's and Abbado's performance audios are great and worthy of being converted to CD-R. With some of the Karajan performances you can see onlookers, but for the most part these are not true live performances. Still, if you are a Karajan fan, as I am, you should get a kick out of these DVDs. The shortcomings do not ruin the overall fun.

Fascination with speeds haunts some conductors. But so far nobody seems to have surpassed Arturo Toscanini in that regard. During his life the Italian maestro use to criticize the German conductors for especially conducting Beethoven's symphonies too slow. Karajan seems to have heeded that critique, and it is said that during the first recording of the 9 symphonies in the early 1960s he kept on hand a copy of Toscanini's score. Of all the recordings I own (Klemperer, Wand, Zinmann, Abbado) Toscanini and Karajan are the only ones who took only a bit more than 64 min (Toscanini 64:43, Karajan 64:47) to go through the Ninth. But whereas somebody like Riccardo Muti who consciously tries to imitate Toscanini creates cacophonies rather than melodies, Karajan very much like Toscanini evince the most beautiful tones from Beethoven's masterpiece. Some like best Karajan's 1961-63 recording. In my personal view this second recording surpasses it (not just on account of the Ninth which took him then over 67 min.) but because of the distinct articulation of each tone. The same applies to the Third which is simply arresting. Watching Karajan, conducting with his eyes closed, makes one think of him as some kind of Greek deity who not only managed to enter the mind of the composer, but who also knows how to unravel the hidden beauty and richness contained in his music. Some reviewers have complained that this video focuses too much on the conductor. However true this might be (it didn't bother me), those who heed such criticism deprive themselves of one of the best ever recordings of Beethoven's unsurpassed Nine Symphonies. Highly recommended !

The Abbado DVD cycle is worth every cent and more - its gorgeous
Same for Bernsteins Ode to Freedom DVD
But
This cycle
Is AWESOME
I think Luigi would smile
Cheers

This is an excellent set of Beethoven's complete symphonic cycle. It has great sound and was nicely shot. However, I will say that, considering the price, DG should include commentaries of the Beethoven symphonies by Karajan himself as a bonus.