Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 7

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

 

 

I am surprised no one has reviewed this CD yet. I've lived with this performance for over 40 years, and have never heard another performance of the 7th symphony quite like it. It was recorded in the spring of 1961 and was released as part of a box set of all 9 symphonies the following year by the Reader's Digest.

This is definitely not a performance for purists. I doubt if there has ever been a faster and/or more aggressive performance of the 7th. Tempi are on the fast side in all the movements. The build-up and climax at the end of the first movement has to be heard to be believed - particularly when the horns just about take your head off with their florish at the very end of the movement. This, incidentally, is accomplished by doubling the horn parts, using 4 players instead of the two the score calls for. This horn doubling is used elsewhere (particularly in the 4th movement) with telling effect. The 4th symphony is also well-performed, but is somewhat overshadowed by the take-no-prisoners approach to the 7th. Sandwiched between these two symphonies is a sprightly reading of the Turkish March.

The recording itself belies its age, with a good, wide sound-stage and crystal clarity - but then, what would you expect from the fabled recording team of Gerhardt/Wilkinson? Credit must also go to the fine re-mastering and CD transfer by Chesky Records, who pretty much specialize in seeking out and re-releasing gems like this.

If you are a fan of this approach, then by all means get your hands on the same group's 3rd symphony (again: those horns!) coupled with the 1st symphony. I guarantee you will not be bored by either performance. Total time is 67:46.

I have all nine symphonies recorded in 1961 on VERY thick almost like 78s near mint vinyl on the audiophil Edition Phoenix label pressed in the early 1990s. The vinyl version has an extensive booklet that details all they went through in recording including what the engineers were up to. These were take no prisoners recording sessions.

The booklet details Leibowitz mastery of the Beethoven Symphonies including over 600 corrections he made to the score. This is similar to Abbado's comments in the documentary included with his DVD set. The Orchestra is the Royal Philharmonic, started by Beecham.

The other review mentions the brass. The booklet has pictures of players of 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, and 6 french horns. You can really hear everything played by the orchestra, but especially the brass.

The sound of the entire set is just incredible, even though this was originally an analog recording. The closest digital I am aware of is the outstanding BPO/Abbado live DVD/CD release from about 2001. I was instantly reminded of Leibowitz when I heard Abbado. The tempos are just as quick. The big difference between the two would be more brass sound with Leibowitz and more kettle drum percussion with Abbado. With all the talk about the new way of playing Beethoven, as was done by Abbado recently, Leibowitz got there first 45 years ago!

This has to be one of the great "sleeper" discoveries of all time! You may still be able to find it on vinyl at Musicstack or Ebay. Do your search under Leibowitz, Reader's digest beethoven, and Beethoven Treasury. Reader's digest released this set as a 7 lp symphony box and again as a 10 lp "Beethoven Treasury" set that includes some concertos, etc. I have also seen the 7 cd Beethoven's Treasury Reader's Digest at Ebay but they seem to be rare.

UPDATE:

I just ran across symphonies 1 to 4 and 6 posted at rhapsody, so if you are interested you can get a sampling. They are posted under reader's digest but also come up under Leibowitz.

The other reviews are completely wrong.

These are recent "Audiophile" recordings on the RPO's own label, assembled in

a cheap set. They are in fact all excellent performances (except that you may think,

as I do, that #3 is a bit rushed.) I particularly like #5.

The conductors are:

#3 Guenther Herbig

#4 and #7 Barry Wordsworth

#5 Claire Gibault

#6 Mark Emler

#8 James Lockhart

#9 Leppard

These are all based on waveform-to-waveform comparisons to Amazon's own

"snippets" of the individual MP3s of the various conductors' performances.

Sometimes these cheap MP3s are real gems of bargains, and this is one.

Doug McDonald

This is one of the series of excellent recordings made by the team of Gerhardt and Wilkinson. As far as classical music goes there really was a golden age of recording and the sound on this CD stands up very well after 49 years. The performance is a bit on the brisk side - not in a heavy teutonic mold. It should probably be regarded as a supplementary version rather than your only copy of these symphonies.