Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 "Choral"

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Doubtless, the ninth remains one of the best musical pieces of all time and, alas, one of the least performed in public. Indeed, such live performances were, and still are, so infrequent that George Bernard Shaw deemed them "extraordinary events separated by years". It may be that it is difficult and technically demanding (but then all Beethoven music is), but it is most likely because it's so passionate and emotionally demanding. You must have abundant personal and professional attributes to conduct a magnun opus the size of Choral Symphony and Arturo Toscanini has them both at his best in this 1952 recording. Although he was 85 years old at that time, he vigorously projects beauty, warmth and youth aplenty. It is a magnificent recording, one you cannot listen to and feel the same afterwards.

Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) spent much of his conducting career trying to give a "definitive" performance of Beethoven's ninth symphony. He conducted the symphony numerous times; it wasn't until 1952 that he was sufficiently satisfied with a recording of this major work to authorize a commercial release.

Toscanini had hated to record during the days of 78-rpm discs. Each 12-inch record side played a little under five minutes, so it was necessary for the conductor and musicians to stop periodically while the master was changed. Only in the United Kingdom, where Toscanini made recordings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, did a record producer (Fred Gaisberg) come up with a system using two recording machines, so that Toscanini and the musicians did not have to stop.

Toscanini was very happy when RCA Victor began using magnetic sound film to record his sessions with the NBC Symphony. Then, in 1948, RCA switched to magnetic tape. With both processes, continuous performance were possible and true high fidelity was realized. Toscanini told his friends that he was often very happy with the long-playing records that RCA began issuing in 1950. By 1952, RCA was using a single full range microphone, suspended above Toscanini's head, to achieve its "New Orthophonic" process. Occasionally, an additional microphone was used to pick up soloists. The results in this recording were exceptional and very realistic.

Toscanini always felt there were problems with performances with Beethoven's ninth symphony. Something always seem to go wrong, either with the soloists, the chorus, the orchestra, or the conductor himself. It's likely other conductors and musicians recognized the challenges of this very difficult music. Just as Beethoven had done with his "Missa Solemnis," the composer challenged the musicians with his very profound and very intricate music. Both works stretch the singers to their vocal limits; having sung "Missa Solemnis" and the ninth symphony, this writer can attest to the considerable challenges of the music.

The commercial recording that Toscanini made with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall in 1952 was the culmination of years of trying to understand Beethoven's intensely complicated musical score. That Toscanini succeeded in producing a legendary recording is a real tribute to his greatness. It's particularly amazing that he made this recording the year he turned 85 years of age.

Joining Toscanini and the NBC Symphony in this recording were a group of outstanding vocal soloists, particularly American tenor Jan Peerce, whom Toscanini considered among his all-time favorite singers. Peerce first sang with Toscanini in a 1939 broadcast performance of this symphony. The Robert Shaw Chorale, which had first performed with Toscanini in a 1945 broadcast performance of the ninth, were on hand, again providing some of the best choral singing possible. Shaw would go on to become a symphony conductor himself (with the Atlanta Symphony) and some said that he was much influenced by his mentor.

It is well known that the four movements attempt to present various musical philosophies of life. Beethoven basically rejects the first three proposals, even reviewing them in the opening moments of the fourth symphony, and then has the bass soloist sing, "O friends, not these sounds." Beethoven uses Schiller's "Ode to Joy" and the recurring main theme has become one of his most famous melodies, later used as the tune for the hymn "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee." The composer clearly had already recognized that one must accept fate and not be discouraged; it was such determination that enabled to live and continue composing despite increasing deafness.

This performance set the standard for all recordings of the Beethoven ninth symphony. Few conductors, singers, and musicians have succeeded as well as Toscanini did in this memorable performance.

This recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony brings us Toscanini at the pinnacle of his career and the most mature stage of his life. It is also the only recording he ever made of this piece, even though he conducted it numerous times and was well known for it. While the recording limitations of 1952 are noticeable, the mood and impact of the piece are not affected at all.

The complex instrumental passages are clear and crisp, interpretted by a true master, leading us ever onward to the climax of the 4th movement where the piece explodes with the typical energy of the Robert Shaw Chorale. The lyrics are clear and filled with breathtaking dynamic variations, accurately depicting the boundless joy for which the piece was named.

This recording of Beethoven's 9th is a 'Gold Standard' to which all other conductors strive. No collection of great works would be complete without it.

For listeners old enough to remember the old LP record and CD transfers of this performance, the performance you hear in this latest transfer will seem a tremendous improvement. In my youth I recall many champions of Toscanini and expecially of his performances of Beethoven. These strong preferences never seemed entirely convincing to me (though I have always been a great admirer of Toscanini's astonishing performance of the Schubert 9th Symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra). I preferred other performances of Beethoven, such as those recorded by later RCA engineers and by Deutsche Grammophon or Decca. To my ears the NBC orchestra always sounded harsh and cold and its sound a bit "dead." Someone has evidently devoted some care and good taste in bringing out a clear, almost warm sound from the old RCA tapes. The passion and precision of Toscanini's conducting now shines through in a wonderful way. The slow movement seems to me particularly impressive.

About 10 minutes into the 4th movement, starting with "Froh!..". I'm not a connoisseur of Beethoven's 9th's, scouted all the reviews, but the differences in the ones I listened to weren't major. I couldn't comment knowledgeably about other parts of this symphony, it sounds as good as the others, but this soloist (I think its Jan Pierce) sounds like he's singing to the mountains. Wow, I get it now, how 9ths can be different and special.

The interpretation and technology bring us a third of the way through history toward Beethoven himself, and there is a feeling of authenticity in this recording that cannot be found anywhere else.

But the very history embedded in this recording also works against it, with the chorus literally breaking the limitations of the technology of the time.

Toscanini's pacing is fast, and often repeated by vastly inferior conductors such as Vanska (who lacks the intensity) and Mackerras (who lacks the edginess). Only Karajan could do better at a similar pace, but it would take a fusion of Karjan's 1963 (mov 1-3) and 1977 (mov 4) performances to do so.

As a single performance, this is on par with Cluytens much slower interpretation -- my own favorite -- which only surpasses this disc in the quality of the sound.