Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 [Hybrid SACD] [Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import]

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Osmo Vänskä (Conductor), Osmo Vanska (Conductor), Minnesota Orchestra (Orchestra), Katarina Karnéus (Performer), Helena Juntunen (Performer), Daniel Norman (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Katarina Karnéus, Helena Juntunen, Daniel Norman
• Orchestra: Minnesota Orchestra
• Conductor: Osmo Vänskä, Osmo Vanska
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (October 24, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import
• Label: Bis
• ASIN: B000IZJ1O8
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,883 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: I. Allegro ma non troppo e un poco maestoso

2. Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: II. Molto vivace - Presto

3. Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: III. Adagio molto e cantabile - Andante cantabile

4. Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: IV. Presto - Allegro assai - Presto (recitativo: 'O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!') - All

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine new Choral - up to the high standards of this cycle, October 27, 2006

By 

Alexander Leach (Shipley, West Yorkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

A powerfully played and recorded account, with a similar interpretative approach to the earlier SACDs in the series. The total timing is under 66 minutes, the Adagio comes in at 13'26, which should give some indication that this isn't a performance that will necessarily appeal to devotees of, say, Furtwangler's 1954 Lucerne Festival performance with the Philharmonia.

I say 'necessarily' as I like both performances very much, despite the differences. The first movement and scherzo here are urgently played with great impetus, not quite with the same emphasis on grandeur as one might find with older fine accounts from Karajan, Fricsay and Boehm. The phrasing is less smooth (string playing often with more aggression than normal), the tempi quicker but the whole seems to relate the work firmly with the other symphonies rather than treating it as a separate interpretative entity to be blasted out in a totally different way - here it all sounds wholly Beethovenian.

Such is the detail of the excellent recording (I listened in stereo via a Stax earspeaker system; the multichannel layer is 5.0) that instrumental lines appear clearer than in any other recording I know, though I listened at a slightly higher than normal level. The acoustic is perfect as well and this must be well up to the standards of this cycle and BIS in general.

The slow movement is not the quickest recorded by a long way and the movement's spirit (as we would normally understand it) is maintained - but occasionally one wonders if one is listening to an Andante rather than an Adagio. Still I felt this was true to the composer's intentions and sounds even more authentic than some other HIP versions.

The Finale opens superbly with great intensity and sweep, and there's a great bass recitative - though I felt the tenor soloist was slightly small scale. Similarly after a fine 'fife and drums' episode the 'pursuit' orchestral tutti which follows didn't quite take off as I thought (and hoped) it would. Other performances like Karajan in 1961 really do make the spine tingle here. But these are the only flaws as the Minnesota Chorale sing superbly as do the female soloists.

Apart from the slight caveats about the finale I recommend this, even if you're not collecting Vanska's cycle - it probably won't replace your favourite Choral Symphony recording but it does offer something genuinely new and convincing in Beethoven interpretation - which these days is not easy.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable in every way, December 28, 2006

By 

Mark Schilling (Bradenton, Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

To put it as briefly as possible, this is the most impressive performance/recording of Beethoven's Ninth it has ever been my privilege to hear.

The precision of the orchestra beggars belief, the transparency of the recording (not to mention its staggering dynamic range) reveals instrumental lines that are seldom heard without obvious "point making" on the part of the conductor. Vanska doesn't create interest by idiosyncracy (though the fourth timpani "whack" in the scherzo is not played mezzo forte as is commonly heard; perhaps this is due to the edition of the score used). He simply plays the piece with enormous elan and thrust. The chorus, superbly recorded as it is, is right in the sound stage with us, not some distant, disembodied group of voices bringing up the rear. The vocalists in the last movement are excellent to boot.

There are many great recordings of this piece. Every music lover will have his or her favorites. Mine include the old Bruno Walter Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York recording from 1949 - 1953 as well as at least one Karajan, the recent Abbado with Berlin, the Norrington for its bizarre but exciting view of the piece, and several others. They each bring this glorious music to life in a different way. But I would be amazed if any listener hearing the Vanska for the first time could remain unmoved.

Truly a great and revelatory recording, worthy of any library.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars thrilling, high-energy performance, March 24, 2007

By 

R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" (a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Osmo Vanska's new 9th Symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra is taut and full of electricity from beginning to end. True, its effect is not as grand as Furtwangler's in 1951 at Bayreuth) (see my review). But it doesn't aspire to that standard and fail, it aims for something different. And succeeds, marvelously!

For me, the 1996 Abbado/BPO performance, remastered in 2004) (see my review) is a good point of comparison. Abbado's "Molte vivace - Presto" has a swinging dance rhythm, while Vanska's faster pace has a march tempo, very German. Vanska takes the slow movement slightly slower than Abbado. It is the final choral movement where Vanska really makes his mark -- what energy! This is the most exciting finale I've heard since Furtwangler 1951. The vocals are clipped, but reach up to the skies with a very German-sounding sort of ecstasy. Fantastic!

See my POST-HEROIC (HIPster) BEETHOVEN SYMPHONIES and HEROIC (OLD SCHOOL) BEETHOVEN SYMPHONIES lists for more recommendations and reviews.

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