Beethoven: The Symphonies

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Georg Solti (Conductor), Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Georg Solti
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (February 11, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 6
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B0000041Z4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #298,914 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solti's answer to Karajan, November 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Beethoven: The Symphonies (Audio CD)

If you have Karajan's 1963 Deutsche Grammophon Beethoven cycle, then you must buy this set: Listen to the Karajan cycle first:
Imagine Solti hearing it, dying multiple quiet deaths and jealously thinking "Wait until I have my own symphony orchestra!" The point is: This is Solti's answer, (recorded soon after Solti took over the CSO in 1971) and remains to this day the only Beethoven set that is not blown away by the power of Karajan '63. The major scorecard: Karajan's Eroica is better, the 5th is a tie and the 9th goes to Solti on the strength of his blinding second movement.

You must own both sets: These are the major salvos of a long contest, a "battle of the titans" rivalry. (highlighted by Karajan's 30 year ban on Solti from the Salzburg festival) Think about it: Karajan and the mighty Berlin Philharmonic met on equal terms by Solti and an American symphony!

After Maestro Solti passed in '97, Beethoven surely invited Karajan and Solti to some heavenly pub to celebrate the great rivalry, with Furtwangler and Toscanini rounding out the table.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly better than its reputation, and the CSO is glorious, May 22, 2007

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: The Symphonies (Audio CD)

Solti recorded this Beethoven cycle from Chicago between 1972 and 1975. The first thing to say in its favor is that the sonics are up to Decca's analog standards, with lots of detail, dynamic range, and punch. That suits Solti's style in Beethoven, because although he reins in his trademark fierce attacks and driving tempos, he's still aggressive. It's not so much that he sides with Toscanini against Furtwangler, but that he performs Beethoven from the outside, marshalling all the externals while revealing almost nothing of his own feelings for the music. Millions of CD buyers clearly like his style, and since I hadn't heard all his Beethoven symphonies, I thought I'd survey them.

CD1 contains the 5th and 2nd symphonies, which sound much the same under Solti's direction. He pulls Beethoven forcefully out of the classical world of Haydn, an effect amplified by using a full modern orchestra. The lovely slow movement of the Second is bulked up beyond what we hear nowadays, and the Scherzo proceeds with startling sfozando accent that stab at the rhythm. The finale is fast and efficient. Strangely, the Fifth could use more of this propulsion. After a biting attck at the famous motto, the strings become almost mechanical. Solti needs to supply vitality form the inside, but he doesn't. As a result, all the movements sound proficient and impersonal. The CSO brass dominate the finale, as you'd expect, but Solti's tempo lags a bit behind Beethoven's Allegro con brio.

CD 2 is devoted to the Eroica and two overtures, Egmont and Coriolan. The opening movement of the symphony is surprisingly old-fashioned and measured, but accents are strong. In its broad, forthright way it's convincing, despite moments when vitality lapses. The funeral march is serious, dignified and well-paced. If only Solti could find it in himself to be moved, because without that, we won't be. The Scherzo is exemplary and the horn trio a thrill (it's taken at tempo but not fast). The impression of a traditional Eroica is underscored in the finale, which is more respectful than abandoned. The two overtures are in the same vein, their chief virtue being the orchestra and the recorded sound. Still, this is one of the more successful CDs in the set.

CD 3 brings a fairly familiar pairing, the Pastorale and 8th symphonies. Solti would seem to be ill-suited to the gentler, bucolic side of Beethoven, but he is never less than skillful and respectful. The Pastorale finds him in a relaxed mood--I'm not sure I'd call it genial--and frankly the results are more successful than Karajan's over-poolished, emotionally frigid accounts. The Chicago strings remain sweet and almost Viennese throughout. After a proficient Scherzo in the style of Szell (no actual peasants allowed) and with excellent wind solos, the storm proceeds without undue shocks. In other words, it doesn't inspire Solti to brutality. The finale needs more joy and reverence, but it is robust and direct. In all, one of Solti's best efforts in Beethoven.

The 8th opens with a too-heavy Allegro vivace, but Solti is in good humor and doesn't drag things down. To me, this symphony requires the kind of wit, delicacy, and effervescence as Mendelssohn, and since Solti only gives us a traditional Germanic account, with sharper than usual accents, I am not ovelry enthusiastic. But as a filler to the Sixth this is more than adequate, and one can always fall back upon the gorgeous playing.

CD 4 gathers the 7th and 1st Symphonies, an odd pairing. The 7th requires an exceptional reading to efface memories of Kleiber and Karajan, specialists in this work. Solti isn't inspired, but the CSO plays with blazing commitment, which counts for a lot (they were just as good for Reiner in his classic account on RCA Living Stereo). LIsteners who want to hear lots of horns in the mix will be more than satisfied. Solti's rhythm could be crisper in the first movement; the Allegretto is taken a bit faster than the norm in German readings but isn't light-footed. The Scerzo is alert, speedy, and totally successful. I always hear Karajan's searing finale in my ears, but Solti comes fairly close. In all, a good Seventh keeping up with the Eroica and Pastoral.

The 1st Sym. copies the style of the 2nd in being ig-boned, forceful, and romantic. The recording is especially good, giving us lots of woodwind detail and impact in the orchestra's wide dynamic range. There's not a puny note here, which is a mized blessing in a work that cries out for delicacy and wit. Of its overblown kind, however, this is a good reading that never sags.

CD 5 contains the Leonore Over. #3, the 4th Sym., and the first movement of the Ninth. Splitting the 9th on to two discs isn't a sin, but Decca has been stingy with timings: most Beethoven cycles fit on 5 CDs without overtures, or perhaps one. Solti's Fourth is in the same traditional style as his Eighth; it's given weight and iportance but ddoesn't sag. Despite a fairly impersonal slow movement, the other movements are satisfying. The Leonore #3 is forceful and dramatic, lacking only what it must have: blazing inspiration. But if you have hung in this long, I think you will find Solti better--and more traditional--at Beethoven than his take-no-prisoners reputation would lead us to believe.

CD 6 completes the 9th Sym., whose first movement on the preceding CD, was forthright and dramatic but lacking in mystery. If you just want to hear a first-rate orchestra playing in excellent sound, this certainly fits the bill. If you want to hear a new or individual take on a masterpiece, it doesn't. The Scherzo proceeds very well, with Solti keeping the rhythm alive and alert. The Adagio, at 19 min., is one of the slower ones; this tempo requires the conductor to keep an unwavering conentration. Solti certainly controls his forces well--even Karajan doesn't give us a better played rendition. But by trying for a hushed, reverent atmosphere, Solti misses the music's spsiritual intensity. This is one movement you must conduct form the inside, from your own deep emotions, and Solti doesn't.

The theatricality of the choral finale is more up his alley. He's ore involved, and the exciting parts are very exciting, with the CSO lower strings outdoing all rivals for richness and accuracy. Solti's apaproach is too straightforward, however, missing much in terms of real eloquence and emotional depth. Marti Talvela makes a stunning, sonorous bass soloist, and the rest of the quartet is fine. The Chicago chorus is world-class, of course, and far exceeds the woolly, wobbly Vienna Singverein that Karajan used three times on DG. Several reviewers have called this 9th the high point of Solti's cycle, and I tend to agree.

In sum, a more satisfying Beethoven set than I expected, with excellent sonics and great playing from the CSO. Solti isn't profound, but his other virtues shine through.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dangerously amazing, February 27, 2004

By 

Eduardo A. Madrid "Zwischenzug" (Caracas, Venezuela) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: The Symphonies (Audio CD)

In one word: AMAZING

Since I lost CDs in the set, I only had the chance to listen a lot to symphonies 2, 5, 6, and 8, to discover an intensity in classic music that I didn't know was possible.

I was so thrilled by this set of symphonies that I needed very badly to replace at least the 9th symphony I lost in the set; and found some, not by Solti and the CSO, but by what my "Beethoven Conoissieurs" recommended, von Karajan or Bruno Walter. Because of this accident I had the chance to compare three different approaches to Beethoven:

Beethoven music, for me, should be very passional, it should really move you, but 9th conducted by B. Walter sound slow, weak, feeble, and von Karajan only adequate compared to Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Georg Solti. The difference is so stark that I got into finding out why, and this is what I found: In Solti's interpretations there are explosions of sound that make you feel your chair is rocking, some passages have a depth of emotions that it feels like you are listening with your bones. Perhaps that's why there are guys in other Amazon reviews who complain that this interps sound a bit like Wagner. But in any case, you can perceive a very intense perfectionism, an almost mathematical precision to the execution that lead to the wonderful contrasts and richness I was describing.

In fact, these interpretations of Beethoven symphonies are so passional that sometimes I suspect that they may be distortions of Beethoven's originally intented ideas and definitively I can understand that some Beethoven fans may not like them. But I love this "supercharged" Beethoven style of Georg Solti, and would confidently say that if in Heaven Beethoven himself is acussing Solti of having misunderstood him, I would side with Solti with all due respect to Ludwig Van.

To summarize, this interpretations are so amazing that you may not even like them, although if you're fortunate, they may allow you to discover an unprecedented intensity.