Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 [Hybrid SACD]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While this recording won't take the top of the heap, it is well played, crisply executed, and has great sound.

By the way, Donald Runnicles has conducted all over the U.S. and Europe, as well as the Atlanta Symphony since about 2001 to fairly recently. He has worked a good deal in the vocal area, so gets some good sounds here from the soloists and chorus.

I bought this performance of Beethoven's 9th by a no name conductor conducting a non name orchestra at a no name hall -- *only* because it was in the SACD format from the legendary TELARC. I have telarc's 1812 overture among others in SACD , and boy, it dazzles in the brilliance of it's recording! I put a lot more importance in the quality of recording than in the actual performance; yes performances vary a lot , but it won't affect your enjoyment of music as much as the quality of recording. This one is a dud. The strings are all muddy and the highs are practically non existent, though the drums ok. It sounds more like a CD from the 80s than a state of the art SACD. On the whole I am seriously underwhelmed by this recording and regret buying it. If you have a DVD Audio player, try Barenboim's version of the 9 symphonies. They are hard to find and for good reason -- each one is an absolute gem.

Good performance but not Herbert Von Karajan or Bruno Walter who are probably tied for the best performance in modern times. It is a very reasonable effort. The best recorded of all version that I have including the Telarc Christoph von Dohnanyi version. Great choice for a first copy of the Great Ninth. If you rate the recording quality it deserves 5 stars.

Many SACDs are rehashed four channel recordings or only have higher resolution stereo. This is a well recorded, well played full six channel recording.

If you're going to do it changes something or try something different to make yourself stand out. This is cookie cutter classical.