Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

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

 

 

I feel the first movement in Dohnanyi's Beethoven 9th is a shade underpowered, but I think it is an intentional approach, allowing the performance to build power as it goes along. Thus the first movement is more sleek than powerful. The Scherzo seems more committed, and the performance truly flowers in the slow movement. Some performances of this slow movement just settle back into a sort of generic lushness, but this performance has a searching, tender quality. The finale is the best-- Spacious yet forward moving, this rendition of the finale is so glowing yet precise, that most other versions seem careless to me now. In sum, not a perfect recording, but quite rewarding.

I don't think this is a perfect recording of this symphony, but I don't think I've ever heard a perfect recording of this symphony either. Suffice it to say Dohnanyi's is my favorite overall rendition. I have some small quibbles with it: As another reviewer mentioned, the beginning does indeed sound a tad underpowered, although the power builds as the movement continues and the final two notes are just huge. As well, I think the scherzo is a shade too slow, although Dohnanyi uses the slow tempo as an excuse to bring out a mysterious quality in the movement that I do enjoy. And the "fanfare of terror" at the beginning of the final movement? Just not very terrifying, folks (although it does stay together remarkably well; the orchestra sounds muddled in other interpretations I've heard).

But that's where my criticisms end. As usual, Dohnanyi manages to bring Romanticism into his interpretation without ever falling into melodrama. Crisp accents and a remarkable precision from the orchestra are the order of the day, yet there is still a clear musical picture here: Dohnanyi and the CO know what the music is trying to say. Aside from the quibbles I mentioned above, the first and second movements come off with tightly controlled power and precision. The third movement is particularly notable; some conductors just set the dynamic level at mezzo forte and drill right through it, but Dohnanyi gets a remarkably lush, warm sound from the orchestra, wistful and consoling at the same time. As amazing as the third movement is, however, it just can't compare to the unbelievable finale, where the orchestra (aside from the very beginning) and chorus just take off. The "Ode to Joy" theme is taken pleasantly up-tempo (I admire Bernstein's vision, but I think this theme just drags on forever the way he conducted it; not so here), and the whole movement is imbued with a joy and a sense of anticipation I haven't heard anywhere else. When the chorus returns after the orchestral fugue, it'll blow you out of your seat. The slower moments that follow are amazing in their own way; they're reverent and mysterious, clearly communicating Beethoven's wondrous vision of a heaven "above the canopy of stars." After that, it's a full-blown race to the end of the movement, which I had to listen to about twelve consecutive times when I first bought this CD. You just can't listen once to an ending as powerful and joyous as this.

So overall, this is the rendition of the Ninth I keep coming back to. The sound may not be quite as balanced on other versions, and von Karajan in particular definitely had the edge with his soloists, although Vaness et al. are no slouches. But this rendition has a sense of vision and power I haven't heard elsewhere.

(Liner notes include the full sung text, by the way.)

I don't have training in classical music like the other reviewers, but I am quite stirred whenever I hear the Cleveland Orchestra's version of Ode to Joy. It makes me want to give the CD to all my friends and relatives even though they don't listen to classical music.

The reason I voted one review as unhelpful was that he said there were better versions, but didn't name them. Please don't keep them a secret!

I would agree with everyone in saying that this recording starts out pretty weak...really, the whole performace is kinda on the performing for a bad movie soundtrack side...but...in the choral part...i have to say, i wouldn't have imagined this much passion in cleveland...the singers nail it very well, and the ocherstra picks it up to follow them and makes the last movement awsome...but...the orchestra alone...seems pretty limp. still, the choral parts are one of the best you can find. for them, i'm glad i own this...i still wonder what got in them this day to sing their guts out like they did. not technically great, but passion rules for the 9th.

Considering the effort behind this recording, I hate to give it only 4 stars but I have to be honest. The first movement is extremely conservative. It has little bite and even less intensity. The scherzo is much better with plenty of drive and power. The slow movement is just about as perfect a reading as you will ever hear. The tempo is just the way I like it, brisk but not rushed. The playing here is simply gorgeous. I am not sure it could be played any better. The finale also has superlative playing and outstanding chorale work. Unfortunately both of the male soloists sound weak while the ladies are both fine. The finale reaches a fever pitch of intensity after the famous tenor solo. It is one of the most exciting finales I have ever heard and again the orchestral playing is simply incredible, the best I have ever heard. With the laid back first movement and weak male soloists, this is a not a perfect 9th. But even with its faults, it is a sensational performance and I am almost sure you will enjoy it.

I have three recordings of the Ninth from Cleveland, Szell's, Maazel's, and the current one. All of them are rewarding, although Dohnanyi's might be marginally the weakest of the three. The main focus of his interpretation is lyricism. This is not a dramatic or earthshaking Ninth. Rather, it is highly consoling, almost an epicurean Ninth. The sound of the orchestra is breathtakingly beautiful. General opinion is that Szell was the greatest conductor of the Cleveland, but I feel that the orchestra played even more beautifully for Dohnanyi. The vocal soloists are good and the chorus performs with fine ensemble. There is nothing idiosyncratic about this reading. Part of the undramatic effect may be due to the sound engineering. It is well balanced but rather distant, heightening the blend and euphoniousness of the orchestra. I am sure I will return to this Ninth with pleasure, but I suspect Gunter Wand will be in circulation on my CD player to offer a more heaven storming reading.

This was the first CD of Beethoven's 9th I ever owned, and I liked it well until I bought and heard other versions. My main problem with it is the pacing - it seems entirely too slow throughout. I vastly prefer a faster pace for the 9th, and this version seems to drag as a result. Otherwise the recording is fine, but many other versions seem better.

This was the first CD of Beethoven's 9th I ever owned, and I liked it well until I bought and heard other versions. My main problem with it is the pacing - it seems entirely too slow throughout. I vastly prefer a faster pace for the 9th, and this version seems to drag as a result. Otherwise the recording is fine, but many other versions seem better.

Recordings like this make me realize at least partly why the classical recording industry is in the state it's in. The late 1970s and 80s saw a steady stream of half-inspired recordings of works that had already been overrecorded. The fact that they were now done in DDD sound was good enough to sell CDs for a time, but once people got over their sonic fetish and once the older, better recordings by Klemperer, Szell, Karajan, Furtwangler, etc., were reissued on CD, the decline of conductors--particularly in America--became achingly apparent. Such is the legacy of this CD, as well as the rest of C von D's hum-drum cycle for Telarc. This is a bland, middle-of-the-road performance of the 9th that is *beautifully recorded,* with a very natural acoustic (read: the strings aren't overmiked, as they often were in early digital discs). But the musicians here aren't saying anything, though they say it with great technical facility. The tumultuousness of the first movement, where we feel that the universe is being created and destroyed before our eyes (or ears), lacks the momentousness. (On a side note, the trumpets are kind of ratty to my ears. Surely this was intentional, but I wonder what the point was.) The scherzo's main theme sounds like an arthritic elephant, and while the trio section is the first moment things start to come to life, the tempo of that section sounds awkward coming after the tempo of the first section. (Without getting too complicated, accelerated sections tend to sound best when the new tempo is a multiple of the previous tempo; the outgrowth tends to sound organic without the listener really understanding why.) Cleveland sure has pretty winds, though! The slow movement is boring and here more than anywhere else the American Clevelanders sound like fish out of water. Listen to a Central European Orchestra to get the charm, the sweetness, the lilt, of this very Viennese movement, which here is completely lost. To me the orchestra here sounds like it's trying to recreate an idea, rather than living it. In short, where's the humanity???

The finale is in many ways the most disappointing movement. The opening "horror" fanfare is too sedate. (Admittedly, this is my most common complaint of Beethoven 9ths in general. Lenny got the fire about right.) The still, awkward Ode does not have much joy as it works its way up the stringed instruments, to climax in a rather hollow-sounding baritone (although, in all fairness, I've heard worse). Robert Page's crisply-trained choir belts out "FRE-ude SCHO-en-ner GOET-ter-FUN-ken" loudly and forcefully, but with the feeling of an auctioneer. There's no attention to line, to TONE, to Beethoven's deliberately naive melody (I mean naive in a good sense here). And really great finales make my hair crawl in awe when they reach "Seid umschlumgen. Millionen!" Some of the most amazing choral writing until we reach the exaulted realms of Mahler's 2nd Symphony many years later. Here I feel it falls short, though again the chorus is polished. But compare Karajan, Furtwangler, or heck, even Toscanini, for some spiritual ferver. And for a really good chorus in general, hear Haitink's LIVE performance on Philips with the Concertgebouw (NOT the studio). Though in other ways it disappoints by being much too sedate in spots, it has one of the best-sounding choruses I've ever heard--they really make sense of the choral parts. Unfortunately this recording is now OOP and hard to find.

I bought this CD when it first came out in 1986, and like everyone else I was impressed by the sound, and it was my first Beethoven 9th on CD. (It might have been the first Beethoven 9th released on CD, and almost certainly the first digital 9th.) At the time I'd only heard about six or so recordings of the 9th, but now, with about 25 of them under my belt, I can hear many shortcomings here. Newcomers to the 9th will probably be excited by this well-recorded, taut performance, but people with more experience with this music and with its epoc and message may find this too sterile or facile.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend one totally great 9th. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, not to mention downright eccentricities. But this wouldn't even make my top 20. Reiner, Furtwangler (especially the WWII recording on Music and Arts), Karajan '63, Cluytens, both Bernsteins (Sony and DG) and many others easily top this, though none is completely satisfying in itself. But this is a recording I'd skip, unless I were interested in demonstrating the sound quality of my audiophile speakers.