Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 [Original recording remastered]

Soderstrom (Artist), Resnik (Artist), Ward (Artist), Vickers (Artist), Beethoven (Composer), Pierre Monteux (Conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), London Bach Choir (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 12, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1962
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Polygram Records / Westminster
• ASIN: B00005LMW3
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,152 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great but old recording, November 6, 2001

By 

Mr JB (Karlskrona Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Audio CD)

This is one of the first stereo recordings of Beethovens lovely ninth symphony. With a french conductor having a go on one of the greatest german romantic works. Could this really be even close to competetive today? Well, the answer is definately Yes!

Monteux brings forth what many other conductors misses, and that is the lyrical values of the music, and it's charm - without ever sacrificing the power a performance of Beethoven's Ninth calls for. For example, both the first and second movement are very forte and almost hard in articulation - clearly made as an argument for the famous forth movement with its refusal of the three earlier movents themes in the double bass, and the bass soloist's first lines: o freunde, nicht dieser tönen... The performance never gets boring, it lives fully through every bar, floating. The tempis are rather high at times, but it never sounds wrong. Theb third movement at a almost modern time-period pace. Still offering repose, though. The only time the tempis bother me the least is in the fourth movement, where perhaps Monteux has to audible changes of tempi between the different part of the movement, so that the first minutes the chorus sings is rather slow and one wonders if a ode to joy really can be that slow, just to more or less take off a few minutes later. I rather prefer a more consistent or at least smoother tempo-changed style here, but, the effect is more obvious this way. Monteux's soloists are simply great, and heldentenor Jon Vickers outstandingly so. The first of them to introduce himself is the firm, powerful and warm bass of David Ward. He's followed by the perfectly idiomatic and fruity voices of Söderström and Resnik. Jon Vickers' drum & fife solopart is so excitingly sung that one almost thinks that the part could have been written just for him. The London Symphony orchestra responds well to their inspired conductor. Today it's hard to find such a personal reading, and after all, personal readings are much more interesting than those trying not to intimidate anyone.

Surely, the sound is not as clear as on today's digital recordings, but still dynamic, and good for being 40 years old. You may try to turn the treble knob up on your amplifier to get a brighter sound picture. Another backdraw is that the chorus is put a little backwards in the recording, thus sounding a little heavy. But those objections are minor ones, and since this performance has both the nerve, precision and great soloists that many modern recordings doesn't, it's still highly competitive and highly recommended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Beethoven 9th ever, July 29, 2002

By 

Andrew R. Weiss "Raleigh Observer" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Audio CD)

This recording of Beethoven's 9th culminates Monteux's late-life Beethoven cycle (interestingly, this symphony was produced by Westminster's Kurt List, the other 8 by RCA Victor). All of Monteux' best qualities shine here: the clarity and lightness of texture, the understanding of the interrelationships of notes, phrases, sections, movements and the whole -- his clear grasp of Beethoven's musical architecture -- the honest presentation of the music without idiosyncrocies, and above all his fiery commitment to making the music live. Monteux eschewed sentimentality, but he never confused that with emotional expressiveness, and that communicativeness is here in abundance. I first encountered Monteux live at Tanglewood in the early 1960's; he was called in to substitute for an ailing Charles Munch and conducted a version of the Tchaikowsky "Pathetique" that earned two standing ovations, one at the end of the third movement and another at the end, and which featured a chord beginning the development section of the first movement that sounded like a cannon-shot. At his considerable best -- as he is here with the London Symphony Orchestra, of which he was permanent conductor at the time -- Monteux offered the best view of the composer and piece at hand. The tempi here are swift but never driven, the London Symphony may not be the most polished orchestra but it plays with commitment and fire, the soloists are all fine (especially Jon Vickers, whose version of the tenor solo surpasses any other I've heard), and the chorus is committed and strong if not particularly idiomatic. The phrasing is graceful in the best sense -- well-proportioned without robbing the piece of its guts. This to me has all of the virtues of the more recent period-instruments-and-metronome-markings versions with the additional virtue of a full-sized orchestra playing with chamber-music clarity but full-size punch, as well as having one of the great musical minds of the 20th century at the helm. In the original vinyl release, Westminster provided one side of Monteux in rehearsing the symphony, which I wish they had seen fit to re-release here. It provided a wonderful glimpse at his no-nonsense manner of communicating his wishes to the orchestra. As Kurt List put it in his original notes, Monteux may not tell you that he wants a rushing waterfall, but he will tell you to get that thirty-second note correct, which is what the orchestra members need to hear. The sound is early stereo, but pretty good considering, and I'm glad to hear the better balance in the CD release over the old vinyl version (which was light on the bass). This should be an essential part of your collection. Very highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat slimmed down Beethoven, September 27, 2005

By 

Jeffrey Lee (Asheville area, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Audio CD)

I come away from this performance wanting more in terms of weight and intensity. Though there are moments, especially in the first and second movements, where Monteux's lower calorie approach is rather appealing, on the whole I am left feeling less than fully satisfied. For the Beethoven Ninth, an appetizer just isn't enough. Particularly in the last movement, both soloists and orchestra sound undercharacterized. The presentation of some of the choral sections occasionally bogs down in deliberateness and routineness. The sense of large scale, impressive drive and a truly moving quality is just not there. In fact, throughout the entire recording an impression of real spaciousness is missing, though there are moments where some of the more intimate details are nicely offered. In the third movement adagio, there seems to be some herky-jerkiness in the expression of detail. But it is primarily the last movement (as noted above) that disappoints. (Listen, by contrast, to Reiner's uplifting and hair raising Chicago Symphony finale.) In all, a mixed bag, of sorts, and not an especially distinguished or fulfilling account from a typically esteemed conductor.