Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / Egmont Overture [Extra tracks, Import]

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Ferenc Fricsay (Conductor), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (January 2, 2001)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Import
• Label: Dg Imports
• ASIN: B000056TKC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,363 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb in every sense., January 20, 2005

By 

Plaza Marcelino (Caracas Venezuela) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / Egmont Overture (Audio CD)

I cannot but wholeheartedly share my colleagues' enthusiasm for this recording. I grew up with it (and, in fact still own the original 2-LP red album shown in this CD's cover, numbered by DGG -yes, back then they had an extra "D" in their name- as 138002/3 SLPM, one of their very first essays in the then novel stereophonic technology) and it still remains very close to me. Besides the 9th Symphony and the Egmont Overture presented in this reissue, the original release included an excellent rendition of the Leonora Overture No. 3, left out now (I suppose) so that a second CD would not be needed. The CD's higher transfer volume helps in bringing the sound closer to the listener (DGG apparently having decided to play it safe when their engineers cut the LPs' masters in 1958) and conferring to it an immediacy and transparency new to me whilst preserving its beautiful tone.

There's not much I can add to what has been written by others in this site, apart perhaps that by 1957 the Berlin Philharmonic still was very much, staff-wise, what it was under Furtwangler and it shows in this recording's sonority. After all, the grand old man had died scarcely 3 years before these works were put into tape, Karajan had just taken over the orchestra as chief conductor and the lean, muscular and to-the-point sound that became characteristic under his long regime was still two or three years into the future. Karajan took to rotate the orchestra's musicians fairly often, far more often actually than was customary with his predecessors and the results of the first shake-up became apparent when in 1962 the same company presented the first of Karajan's three Beethoven symphony cycles he'd record with them, when the orchestra's new virtuosity surprised critics the world over (Karajan had in his record a prior Beethoven symphony cycle, made for EMI during the fifties with the Philharmonia Orchestra). But what we get here, and in fine early stereophony, is the grand old sonority of the orchestra, the one that still had links to the pre-war years but which soon enough would evolve into an instrument capable of aweing its audiences under their new and starry conductor on account of its virtuosity and perfection.

But Fricsay's interpretations differ greatly from Furtwangler's. There is a tautness of approach, a more modern focusing on architecture that does not look back in time as much of Furtwängler's work did (but splendidly so, I must add), embedded as it was on german romanticism, but decidedly centres in our own time. Fricsay's approach to the Symphony's 4th movement is as modern as the late fifties allowed to, marking a singular kind-of-extrapolated cue to today's "historically aware" presentations, and DGG feted him with an outstanding quartet of vocal soloists. Yes, the 3rd movement is slow, perhaps harking back to the grand old man's ways but Fricsay gave us lessons of tempo handling in the first and second movements that have nothing to do with Furtwangler's fluctuations, an approach decidedly his, full of musicianship and with a solid grasp of the beethovenian language. So it is also in the performance of the Egmont Overture which fortunately made its way to the disc.

Yes, cancer robbed us of an immensely talented conductor who probably would have rivalled Karajan (who was but a few years his senior) during much of the second half of the 20th Century. What would have become of Fricsay's career is anybody's guess, as is the case with other conductors (like Cantelli, for example) whose careers were cut short by untimely death, but mind you, if you decide to buy this disc you will end up with one of the finer recordings this warhorse has had ever.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Beethoven, August 15, 2003

By 

Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / Egmont Overture (Audio CD)

Ferenc Fricsay's performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony (and Egmont Overture) with the Berlin Philharmonic has to be counted among the greatest versions ever recorded. Reissued on CD in the DG Originals series (don't confuse it with Karajan's 9th featuring a remarkably similar cover), this was the first version of the 9th to appear in stereo back in 1958, and it was Deutsche Grammophon's first ever stereo recording with the Berlin Philharmonic. It was a landmark event to be sure, and who better to entrust it with than Fricsay, a colossal figure in his day. Had he not died tragically young at age 48 in 1963, Fricsay would surely be mentioned today in the same company as Karajan and Bernstein. But Fricsay is presently getting his due as two recent reissues attest -- his "Great Conductors of the Century" collection won a Grammophone Award prompting DG to release a 9-CD box set of his recordings in their "Original Masters" series (see my reviews for both titles). Anyway, this glowing account of the 9th is a great place to begin with Fricsay, then be prepared to want more by this brilliant conductor.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic!, February 16, 2004

By A Customer

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

This is a fantastic recording of Beethoven's famous ninth symphony. It's the first stereo recording of the symphony, and still very few other recordings come up to its standard, if any.

The first movement is as it should be (and far too often isn't): lively, gradiose, but without pomposity, and in some way barbaric. The second movement, Molto vivace, really dances, and has a rythmic drives that carries it forward and takes you along. The slow movement is really played rather slowly (18 minutes), but it's the most beautiful rendition of it I have ever heard. Fricsay shapes the melody with real care for every little detail, and he manages to make it really sound like music from heaven. Then, after these 18 minutes of gorgeous serenity, the finale comes as a fresh breath of air. Sheer joy shines from this movement, in which Fricsay, unlike many other conductors, avoids being pompous. The soloists are all excellent and in top form, and they sing the music with real vigour and joy.
The orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, is in as fine a form as ever, and the recorded sound is excellent. It sometimes, but very seldom, gets a bit muddy, especially in the first movement, but most of the time it is really sharp with a clarity comparable to that of any later recording. There is only one little problem: There is a lot of tape hiss in the background. But then again: The performance is so good that you have forgotten it after five minutes of listening.

So, finally: A wonderful performance of one of the greatest symphonies ever, far better than the famous Karajan recording, which I find rather cold (compared to this one, at least). I must admit, I haven't heard any recording by Furtwängler, but until that happens this will be my favourite recording of the ninth. A tragedy that Fricsay died so young. If he had lived longer, he would surely have been recognized as one of the greatest conductors of the twentieth century, comparable to Karajan, Bernstein and Toscanini.