Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5-8

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Arturo Toscanini (Conductor), NBC Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: NBC Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Arturo Toscanini
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (November 24, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B00000F1BQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #289,146 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Toscanini, July 31, 2001

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Hermes Camacho "MusicianHermes" (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5-8 (Audio CD)

Toscanini was probably the most dominant maestro the world has ever known. Wherever his presence was felt, whether it be La Scala in Italy, The Met, Philadelphia, or NYP, it lingered even after he left. There have been many stories of when Toscanini left, not only did the quality of the performances diminish, but the respect of the musicians toward his "replacement." Granted it wasn't intentional, but rather a general feeling of incompetence in the new conductor in light of the old. When Toscanini would switch with Stokowski for guest conducting stints between Philadelphia and NYP, utmost respect was exhibited toward Toscanini in Philly, while in New York, the musicians resented Stokowski's different, although masterful and extraordinary, interpretations and style.

This reissue of Beethoven's last four great symphonies before the monumental ninth are among Toscanini's best. The fifth symphony is crisp and clean, the trademark Toscanini style (everyone talks about Stokowski's "Philadelphia Sound" or rather "Stokowski Sound," but what about the "Toscanini Sound?"). It is probably not the best of his numerous Symph. 5 recordings, but it is still very good. The climactic section in the coda leading to the four note heavy segment is hair-raising (the descending eigth note line in the violins into the driving four note phrases). His tempos are superb and closer to the proper tempo as compared to most maestri of the day. The second movement is quite lilting, lyrical, yet with an air of majesty and nobility. The third movement scherzo continues the sound of majesty and the transition into the finale is not only powerful, but right on target to Beethoven's original tempo marking (from 96 to 84). The Seventh is a treasure, like always, but the trumpet, from time to time, particularly in the fourth movement, comes out a little too much more than it should (I imagine it an engineering fault -- Toscanini would never have permitted an overzealous trumpet). The Finale of the seventh is poweful and triumphant, and again, follows Beethoven's tempo (It seems as if in the recapitulation, 3 or so minutes into the movement, the sound seems to become STEREO. It's quite amazing the sound quality change). Even the second movement, which is still a little under Beethoven's tempo, is faster than was accepted in Toscanini's time...it was Toscanini's relentless servitude to the composer to follow the score to the letter and/or help (not re-write) the composer's intentions see light.

It's a recording worth buying, but for the best recording of the Seventh Symphony, turn to his 1936 NYP recording...it is spectacular, particular the last movement. Still, this recording was good enough for Toscanini (as he had the final approval), and is a superior recording to many of the old, and even new school of conducting and conductors. Germans play German music right? Furtwangler, Karajan, Klemperer, Bohm? No! The Italian Toscanini.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clarity, Fidelity, Power..., July 17, 2001

By 

Hank Drake (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5-8 (Audio CD)

I was skeptical when these new CDs were issued. My thoughts were that the early 1990s Complete Toscanini reissue was probably the best that could be humanly done to restore the very pinched and nasal sounding originals. Since I had already bought half of that set, I wasn't about to spend more of my hard-earned money on a marginally improved RE-reissue.

I was wrong. In 1997, RCA totally reorganized and inventoried its massive vaults, which had been in disarray for decades. As a result, many original sources which had been declared "lost" were now "found." This new remastering is strikingly improved sonically over all earlier issues. Utilizing the best technology now available, RCA has also done the right thing by hiring a musician--conductor Ed Houser--rather than whiz-bang technicians to supervise the remastering. The NBC Symphony Orchestra now sounds better than ever before, with greater clarity, smoother strings, fuller winds, and less blotting out during fortissimos.

Perhaps no conductor of the 20th Century has been as misunderstood as Arturo Toscanini, as evidenced by the critical backlash with which he was assailed in the years after his death. That criticism was partly in reaction to the equally unbalanced adulation heaped upon him during his lifetime. I remember once mentioning to an acquaintance my admiration for Toscanini's Beethoven and Brahms, and he shot back, "He conducts everything too fast!" In fact, in comparison with other recordings and broadcasts of his era, Toscanini's conducting was not generally faster than average. In relation to TODAY'S phlegmatic tempos, however, Toscanini's pacing is definitely brisk. But what most people are hearing as fast is, in fact, Toscanini's characteristic rhythmic vitality and, occasionally, drive, which brings the faster movements to sparkling life. Likewise, the slow movements are never dragged, and glow with Italianate warmth.

It is worth noting that the repeat in the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was created editorially. This performance originated from a 1952 telecast, and Toscanini had to skip the repeat for timing considerations. RCA does not credit the liner notes, but they are reprints of Mortimer H. Frank's excellent notes originally written for the early 1990s CD release.

RCA has so far only released Toscanini's core repertoire with the NBC Symphony--but they are more than welcome additions to the catalogue. The Maestro's recordings with the New York Philharmonic, and The Philadelphia Orchestra should also be remastered, post-haste. Then, RCA, which has given us magnificent reissues of Kapell and Rubinstein, should get to work and replace their botched Vladimir Horowitz reissue from the 1990s, using this magnificent Toscanini reissue as a template.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank God For Toscanini!, July 28, 2000

By 

Michael Newberry (Santa Monica) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5-8 (Audio CD)

What is there to say about Toscanini, but that he is the greatest conductor I have ever heard. His integration of structure, momentum, and detailed expression is without peer. I don't know how its possible but the first cord from each of these Symphonies, seems to set the whole in motion. He creates an overwhelming sense of anticipation, moves through waves of feeling, and then lets loose with cataclysmic precision. And he does something that I have rarely heard, but he makes every note seem as if it's a human expression. I don't mean that its as if it was made by the thought or feeling of the composer, but that the orchestra itself is an intensely passionate and intelligent animal whose form of expression is solely by sound. His interpretations never sound like musical abstractions, which are how most conductors' interpretations sound to me. There is something primordial in hearing Toscanini, that feeling makes me recall that someone said that the first musical instrument was the voice.

The sound, for '52 recordings, is remarkably good, really! And the booklet has wonderful insights and factual notes about Toscanini and these Beethoven Symponies.