Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Symphony No.7; Haydn: Symphony No.104 [Australia]

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Although this isn't the best known of Karajan's 1950's and 1960's recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic, it deserves inclusion as one of Decca's Legends. Karajan would record both Beethoven's 7th Symphony and Haydn's 104th Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic - the former no less than three times - yet I doubt I have heard his interpretations sound as fresh and as invigorating as these with the Weiner Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic) recorded in one of the orchestra's concert halls. In both works Karajan opts for brisk tempi, coaxing richly warm, brilliant performances from the orchestra. As much as I enjoy this unexpected treasure, I hope that Decca will consider reissuing as part of his series his splendid recording of Gustav Holst's "The Planets" also recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic during this period. Fans of Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic will not be disappointed with this CD.

Perhaps the least known phase of Karajan's recording career comprises the handful of discs he made with the Vienna Phil. for Decca, mostly in the late Fifties. There's a great Richard Strauss collection and also, as Mr. Kwok notes, a world-class The Planets, among others. Here we have two long out-of-print recordings in vintage analog sound. The Beethoven Seventh straddles two other versions, the earlier in mono with the Philharmonia on EMI, the later in stereo with the Berlin Phil. on DG, part of Karajan's famous 1963 Beethoven ccyle.

This version has the freshness and direct expression of the Philharmonia recording, but in much better sound and played with incomparable stylishness by the VPO. While not as explosive as the Berlin reading -- this is one of Karajan's mellowest interpretations -- DG's engineers spoiled a great reading with edgy, blatty sound. Karajan's tempos are all traditional, yet he infuses inner life into them, unlike sober traditionalists like Bohm, Schuricht, and Knappertsbusch in their Sevenths. This for me was a must-listen since the Seventh was a Karajan specialty.

Not many critics nowadays favor Karajan's way with Haydn, which suffers from too large an orchestra playing in too sleek a style. There's nothing rustic or ebulient about it. Those flaws have kept me from admiring his other two readings of Sym. 104 with the Berlin Phil. on EMI and DG. Like them, this VPO reading is big, Beethoven-sized, but it has more grit to it and less suaveness. Even so, the star of the disc is definitely the Beethoven Seventh.

Since most reviews on this page focus on the Beethoven 7th, I wanted to speak about the Haydn 104th symphony. First a quick word on the Beethoven. If you don't like Karajan's approach to Beethoven and the 7th in particular, you might like this version because it's warmer and less tense than his Berlin 7th on DG. I very much prefer the 60s DG 7th over the other Karajan 7ths and the finale is one of the greatest of all time on that recording. But yes, Karajan's treatment of the allegretto can be considered cold for it's time. ( Nowadays conductors are much colder ). So if that's a problem, this Vienna 7th has a warmer allegretto than the subsequent DG remakes.

Onto Haydn... there is no conductor in the world who has the nerve to play Haydn this way in the 21st century. Most conductors today downsize the orchestra and undermine the grandeur of the music in every conceivable way. To me, these modern H.I.P.sters are a bunch of drones, frauds and copycats, scared of making a big statement. Karajan never had a problem making a big statement and this version of the 104th is Karajan's best. It's big, bold and still has inner gentleness where it counts. The Vienna Philharmonic are angelic and Olympian in turn. Decca's sound of that era was always some of the best around.

The cover photo is quite beautiful too. Karajan the narcissist, mentioned it as his favorite photo of himself. Those harps in the background do look like wings a bit. If you are wondering why there are harps in the photo when there are no harps in use during the Haydn and Beethoven on this CD, well it's because this photo originally graced a collection of Liszt symphonic poems.

I really liked this version of the 7th, and the sound on the disc is excellent. What more can you ask for?

Highly recommended.