Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 7

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Leonard Bernstein (Conductor), New York Philharmonic (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: New York Philharmonic
• Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (March 16, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000I9G9
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,935 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio

2. Andante cantabile con moto

3. Menuetto, Allegro molto e vivace

4. Finale, Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace

5. Poco sostenuto - Vivace

6. Allegretto

7. Presto

8. Allegro con brio

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Try Bernstein's other seventh with the New York Philharmonic, November 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 7 (Audio CD)

I just realized something. This version of the Seventh, coupled with the First, is actually from 1958 (very early in Bernstein's career with the NYPO). While it is not a bad performance by any means, I encourage you to buy Bernstein's other performance of the Seventh with the NYPO, recorded in 1964. This later version is much better in my opinion. I would suspect the first reviewer's overly enthusiastic review is actually for this later version. This later 1964 version is also available in the "Bernstein Century" collection, paired with the Second symphony.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bernstein's 1958 Seventh is a little raw, but the First is ebullient, February 19, 2007

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 7 (Audio CD)

Sony doesn't let you buy Bernstein's outstanding versions of Beethoven Sym. #1 and #2 without buying two versions of the Seventh, one recorded in 1964, the other an earlier 1958 rendition, included here. Both are spirited readings but they don't rise to the level of Reiner, Karajan, or Kleiber. Bernstein took a fairly measured, relaxed view of this wrk, a la Bruno Walter, and we've become used to sharper concentration. Of the two readings, this one is inferior. It displays a bit more energy in the Scherzo, but the recording is murky at times and, worst of all, the finale is lax and boring, a far cry from Karajan's joyous, thrilling race to the finish.

The best thing here is the First Sym., as the Second is the gem of the other CD. Sony really shouldn't have forced us to buy both, but there you are. Bernstein's First is big and Beethovenian, with little reference to Haydn's classical decorum and smaller intentions. On its own terms it's quite alert and lively, with abundant humor in the finale. Again, expect somewhat measurd tempos comared to those we've become used to after the period-performance revolution.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The finest recorded performance of the Seventh -- Bar None!, April 9, 1999

By 

John Parker Marmaro "gilfaethwy" (Spring Hill, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 7 (Audio CD)

When Deutsche Grammophon re-released Carlos Kleiber's recording of the Seventh Symphony, the praise heaped upon it was enormous. Yet Kleiber's interpretation owes a very great deal to Bernstein's earlier New York Philharmonic interpretation (which itself reflects lessons learned from Toscanini). The remasterings have greatly improved the sonic qualities of the recording, but the performance is superlative -- even considering those of Kleiber and Toscanini, the Bernstein/NYPO Seventh is (in my opinion) the definitive version, peerless. It has been written that other symphonies exist as works of art, but that the Seventh simply IS. Of the master's great symphonies it is perhaps the least specific, the most universal. Wagner's often-quoted sobriquet ("the Apotheosis of the Dance") in fact belittles this work: it is timeless, elemental, and Bernstein & the NYPO bring out the Promethean quality of the work better than anyone. The details are never glossed over: the wonderful "blue notes" of the end of the alternative melody in the Allegretto, for example, are often swallowed up in other performances. Not here. The parallelism between the codas of the first and fourth movements - the almost orgasmic quality of mounting tension -- is pointed beautifully. The electric frisson of the buzzing violas at the codetta of the exposition in the finale come through exquisitely: the whole finale fairly gushes with a torrent of libidinous energy, an outpouring of the Life Force. Indeed, in all particulars, the performance is both cerebral and yet spontaneous -- the feeling of sui generis is omnipresent. It is good that Sony are re-releasing these monumental and thrilling performances!