Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 (Fra)

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I love these recordings. The Andre Cluytens cycle of Beethoven symphonies with the late 1950s Berlin Philharmonic is a real treat! Especially these days, when Beethoven recordings have gotten so sanitized and fussed over. Cluytens is masterful. These are powerful, broad, deeply satisfying renditions. The legatos are rich and fully sustained. The staccatos are crisp and short. The Allegros are aggressive and often a tad faster than usual and the Adagios are intense and sometimes slower that usual. The overall effect is immensely vivid and rich beyond anything we are used to these days. You won't hear a more stirring 1st movement of the Erocia or a more glorious reading of the Pastoral symphony. Some of the recordings of Beethoven symphonies that Pierre Monteux made with the London Symphony back in the 1960s share certain qualities in common with these, but Cluytens surpasses even those vital, superb Monteux versions. You won't regret buying this series. It's a reminder of another era of music making.

This is an awesome set. I like Beethoven played in many shapes and forms (I have the Harnoncourt set, which I also enjoy a lot). Compared to other sets that I have, though, this set wins, hands down, in color, joy, and the pleasure of having the BPO in splendid form. And recorded by EMI, thank the gods, and not another DG-Karajan cycle, which, in every cycle, seems to slight the bass and drain color. It's a pity EMI never recorded Karajan and BPO in Beethoven's symphonies.

Anyway, I bought this for friends and myself. First, for my friends, because, at the time it was out under the Seraphim label, and you could assemble the whole set for $18. I listened to the recordings with them, and I was hooked! I went out and bought the complete set.

Nothing is never less than good, and some performances are just amazing. The 6th, as everyone has noted, is one of the best. I really enjoy the 3rd and the 9th, also. It's so nice to have a 9th that radiates joy throughout the whole piece.

The engineering is something to behold. It's completely natural, catching a lot of the orchestra's glorious overtones. Nothing is artificially miked, and it has good impact. Nice 3-D sound, too. You feel like you are in the hall (although for hi-fi nuts, it won't be a Telarc-SACD experience). But what you hear is what Cluytens intended.

Compare this set to Zinman's much lauded Beethoven set on Arte Nova, you have to wonder what the fuss is all about. Comparatively speaking, Zinman is Black and White, while Cluytens is all Technicolor. Similar comparison for Solti and DG Karajan, too.

Read the other reviews--they are pretty much dead on. I'll disagree on two points with one review: #8 wasn't boring to me, it was good, and personally I didn't find the sound on my Ninth muddy at all; for the age of the recording it's pretty darned good--maybe a little congestion at the top. Anyway, I bought mine based on exactly these recommendations. A great set! Listening to Sixth right now and it's my instant favorite. I write not to add to the enthusiasm but only to encourage you to "get it while it's hot." As others have pointed out, this is not going to stay in print forever and with Cluytens being a virtual unknown over here (and maybe over there as well--but he's probably a household name in Belgium) once it's gone it'll probably be gone forever. That's a long time. At 20 bucks how can you lose? Comes in a nice big box; looks real impressive. Go!

Cluyten's set is solid! This is the same orchestra (Berlin) that played under Karajan a couple years later. These guys sound much better under Cluytens. The recordings are less cluttered and pompous.

Symphony 1 is a real delight and hard to beat.

Symphony 2 is one of the best around.

Symphony 3 is one for the ages.

Symphony 4 sounds better here, re-mastered. Good performance.

Symphony 5 has some slackness in parts, which keeps it from being one of the better recordings. Karajan has this one beat.

Symphony 6 is great and one of the best around.

Symphony 7 is another jewel of the set.

Symphony 8 is a bore under Cluytens. The tempos are way too slow for it`s own good. Karajan even has this one beat. But neither version scores high in my book.

Symphony 9 is not well recorded (too muddy) and not one of the better conducting jobs of the set. The Berlin orchestra under Karajan wins this round as well.

All in all, five great recordings for the price of a two disc set. As a bonus, there are three overtures included. Opus 43, 72b & 84.

Highlights: 1, 2, 3, 6 & 7

Cluytens strides through the glorious canon like a giant who's light on his feet. Those seeking Historically Informed Performances must look elsewhere. While that sort of "authenticity" can be bracing, Cluytens and the Berliners (with Furtwaengler's memory still alive) opt for something different. They do not celebrate Beethoven. They don't place him on a pedestal. This Beethoven achieves timelessness through the most natural balances, rational speeds and unaffected singing. I hesitate to mention the price, because that might seem to be touting this set as merely a great bargain. It's great. Period.

I am a fan of Carlos Kleiber and have all the recordings that he did of Beethoven who I consider the best ones than it is possible to have of the great composer, nevertheless, for us the fans of Carlos, exist the great sadness of the symphonies who he could not or wanted to record, but now the preoccupation is smaller because between the recordings of Otto Klemperer and this complete cycle of André Cluytens we have the interpretations nearest which Carlos could have done and thought. In Klemperer, the third is spectacular and the ninth is equally great, and in Cluytens everything is good, with a sense of the musicality, of the intensity, of the intention, of the differentiated planes, of the tempo fast but not hurried, that for me, only is comparable with Carlos Kleiber. It is a pleasure to listen the third symphony of the form that Cluytens interprets it, a form different from Klemperer does but of a way that I sincerely think is most similar as far as concept to which Carlos Kleiber would interpret; I have listened several thirds, including Erich Kleiber (Decca), Furtwängler (Music & Arts) and Klemperer (EMI) and I consider that the version of Cluytens is only surpassed, and only nearly, by Klemperer, but one should not lose the version of Cluytens even having the one of Klemperer. Concerning the fifth, it is remarkable the similarity between the version of Cluytens (made first) and the one of Carlos Kleiber, favored the one of Kleiber by a better taking of sound and criterions of intensity and beauty something more worked, but the conception of the work is the same and the sonorous handling very similar, in conclusion, a so intense and beautiful fifth as the praised one of Carlos. The ninth is all a discovery, another complement to the stereo version of Klemperer in EMI and a concept very different from the one of Furtwängler in Music & Arts or EMI. The intensity and beauty are the basic characteristics and as it will happen here in all the interpretation of Cluytens, once that it is begun to listen the work is not possible to be let listen until the end. The only point against is the sound taking, which lacks of naturalness and gives the impression to hear the work from very far or after many bounces in the hall, but is not a factor that causes that the works cannot be listened, affecting mainly the listening of the timbals, but allowing a very good listening in general. It is not but to thank to those blind points that still are in the classical labels (mainly in EMI) and that allows that an integral that must consider between greatest of all the times is sold to a price in which all we can obtain it. I only have two things to say: first, is that I hope that EMI is decided to publish the great interpretation of Cluytens and Oistrakh of the Beethoven's violin concert, greatest of all the times, to make justice with André Cluytens; and the other is that run to buy this cycle before that it is out of stock and the gentlemen of EMI decide to hurl it to the garbage.

For decades, I have considered this set, along with Konwitschny's, to be one of the two best ever recorded; and here is why:

Both sets wear better with each successive hearing, and both are monumental and devoid of mannerisms, or of any pretenses or straining for effects. Furthermore, unlike either of the 1950's & 1960's Karajan sets (first with the Philharmonia, and then with the Berlin Phil.), both the Cluytens and the Konwitschny sets communicate the humanity and warmth of Beethoven, and aren't at all steely cold.

Cluytens in this set introduced himself to the world as an astounding Beethoven conductor, after a career which had previously focused upon French music. This Belgian conductor had unfortunately become typecast as French because he built his career in Paris, but then in the 1950's he conducted several times at Bayreuth, and soon became recognized as a very great conductor of German music. EMI's Walter Legge had discovered him (along with Karajan and Klemperer) right after WWII, and mistakenly categorized him as EMI's French specialist, but after Cluytens's recognition at Bayreuth, Legge rectified his error by commissioning Cluytens to do this complete Beethoven set. Unlike with Karajan and Klemperer, whose EMI/Angel sets were performed with Legge's own Philharmonia Orchestra, Cluytens was granted to perform these symphonies with the world's greatest orchestra at the time, the Berlin Philharmonic. This was before Karajan had had the opportunity to transform this orchestra (after being named in 1956 as the Berlin Phil.'s permanent conductor) into the sleek hard machine they subsequently became. Under Cluytens, they were still the orchestra of Artur Nikisch and Wilhelm Furtwangler, with a deep, resonant and somber tone, which was perfect for Beethoven. Cluytens brought out their fullest glory, before Karajan took over and transformed the orchestra into the cold hard steel machine they subsequently became.

The tone here is golden, but with deeply shaded hues, as if from the forests, with brilliant beams of light shining through -- perfect for Beethoven.

Cluytens's style is perfect for this orchestra, and for Beethoven's music: Everything noble comes forth to the maximum, with a stunning naturalness and lack of strain. Unlike, for example, Furtwangler, who raced climaxes in order to excite the listener, Cluytens is breathing deeply and steadily in the climaxes just as in the quiet passages, always calm no matter how loudly he is playing. There is a hypnotic effect that is at least the equal of Karajan at his best.

One of the reviewers here said that Cluytens was least good on the Ninth, but, to the exact contrary, that was the symphony which I first knew from this set, before the complete Cluytens set was even issued, and I immediately recognized this performance of the Ninth as being among the most noble, radiant, hypnotic, and glorious, in the entire catalog. This recording enabled me to recognize that Cluytens was, without a doubt, one of the greatest of all conductors, and so I eagerly looked forward to hearing his complete set.

The more that I heard each of these performances, the more that I came to revere each one, and I ultimately concluded that no recorded studio performance of any of these symphonies is better than the performance in the present set. Not only is this set the best ever recorded, but on most of the symphonies, the performance is at least tied with the best ever recorded, and that's a spectacular achievement.

The First Symphony is as good as Karajan's Berlin recording of it, but even better in its warmth, which contrasts with Karajan's coldness. Only Konwitschny matches Cluytens here.

The Second Symphony is as good as Swarowsky's and as Konwitschny's, and I prefer all three to Karajan's two recordings of the work.

The Cluytens Beethoven Third, "Eroica," is certainly among the greatest in the catalog, along with von Matacic and the Czech Phil., and perhaps even better than any of the other fine recordings of this work, by Karajan-Berlin, Swarowsky, and Konwitschny. Whereas most performances of the Eroica fall apart in the final movement, Cluytens's interpretation does not; it just keeps the pulse going, strong and steady to the very end.

The Cluytens Fourth is at least the equal of the other great performances of the work, by Swarowsky, Konwitschny, and Karajan-Berlin.

The Cluytens Fifth is likewise on a par with the other great studio recordings of this masterpiece, along with Karajan's 1946 Vienna Philharmonic recording (which is the most visceral), and Swarowsky's South German Philharmonic recording (which is the most severe). Cluytens makes the music glow with warmth and deep humanity, nothing at all harsh, but still retaining full monumentality, perhaps the most Beethoven-like of all recordings. As opposed to the wildness of the Karajan-Vienna, or the severe and unwavering tension of the Swarowsky, we have here a grace and civility that don't diminish this work's power one bit. There is only one performance that's probably better than any of these, and it's the live one by Konwitschny on Weltblick, paired with an equally stunning live Beethoven Seventh. Those two Konwitschny performances are superior even to his superb studio recordings of those two symphonies that are in the complete Konwitschny/Beethoven Symphony set, and his live Beethoven Fifth is everything that anyone could hope for in a performance of this magnificent work. That Konwitchny Beethoven performance is the best ever recorded.

The Sixth, "Pastorale," is also at least the equal of the other great recorded performances of this work, which are the four recordings of it by Swarowsky.

The Seventh has only one equal: Konwitschny's live performance on Weltblick. However, others are close behind these two: Leinsdorf with the Rochester Philharmonic, Karajan with the Philharmonia, Konwitschny's studio recording, and Giulini with the Chicago Sym.

The Eighth is one of the three best, along with Karajan's 1948 Vienna Phil. recording, and Swarowsky's.

There are perhaps a larger number of great recorded performances of the Beethoven Ninth than of any other work: Cluytens, Karajan (Vienna 1948), Swarowsky, Konwitschny, Neumann, Matacic, and Bohm (Vienna 1980), might each be considered the best, though each in different ways. I prefer the Cluytens overall, but barely, because it seems to me to have the best combination of monumentality, warmth, and a mystical trance.

Unfortunately, Cluytens got cancer and died at the age of 62, shortly after completing this set. If he had lived an additional twenty years, he would have come to be recognized as one of the greatest conductors who ever lived, and as the supreme master on Beethoven, for whose music he possessed a very special personal affinity. Oddly, French music, on which he had built his reputation, was far less suited to his temperament. His premature death was an immense loss for the musical world, and this set was the pinnacle of his entire career, easily the best complete Beethoven set, even better than Konwitschny's.

With most Beethoven symphony cycles there is always at least one weak performance. Not here (although the 8th could use a little "kick in the pants"). Almost half of these are among the best ever--the 3rd (w/Weingartner), 4th (w/Kleiber), 5th (w/Furtwangler-'37 and Kleiber) and 6th (w/Walter). Echoing other reviewers, Cluytens in Berlin is the best Beethoven symphony cycle. (EMI France has re-released this set, again, at bargain price.) Also, check out the cycles by Kletzki, Konwitschny, Immerseel and Leibowitz...maybe not as well known, but fresher and more inspired than most.

IMPORTANT NOTE: EMI HAS FINALLY REDUCED THE PRICE TO WHERE IT SHOULD BE!

SEE: Beethoven: Les 9 Symphonies

Hooray! (This new set does not include notes or times - supplied in this earlier ridiculously over-priced set. What's with the people at EMI, anyway?)

This famous set offers listeners a chance to hear the Berlin Philharmonic playing Beethoven in the early days of stereo. The important point is: this is pre-Karajan, before Otto Gerdes was forced to engineer everything spontaneous or natural out of the music at the demand of Big Kahuna Karajan.

The result is a marvelous and revealing glimpse at the Berlin before Karajan turned it into his orchestra, with notable differences in attack and especially approach. Woodwinds actually have some airiness surrounding their sounds, and one can easily tell wooden instruments from metal! The brass glow with golden colors, instead of the sullen overtones and wierd processed sound they too often received under DG and Karajan. Cluytens - never a world beater as conductor - having been given the keys to the big Mercedes acquits himself very well. These recordings strike a nice balance, with Cluyten's lighter touch and opera pit bounce opening out the playing for a more spacious and joyful Beethoven. Of course, Furtwangler had not been dead very long, and certain immense sonorities still linger, but as a general rule this is a balanced and forward Beethoven.

Star of the set - and one of the delights of record collecting - is the simply gorgeous Pastorale. Cluytens doesn't quite hit the last movement's rhapsodic heights as well as Klemperer, but if any performance could challenge Bruno Wlater's effortlessly perfect simpatico with this music it has to be this one.

Hopefully EMI will get serious and price this set where it should be - closer to thirty dollars than a hundred! Until then I urge anyone interested to try and find the Sixth as a seperate issue or used.

I have many of Beethovens symphonies by many fine, fine orchestras and conductors. I really love this EMI box set though. It surely is one of my favorites. Hands down, it is, for me, far and away the best value for the buck. It sounds like it was recorded in a huge old castle chamber. French liner notes, but what the hay...