Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 / Schumann: Symphony No. 3

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Though he was only with them a few short years, Carlo Maria Giulini's tenure as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, replacing the great Zubin Mehta, was a richly rewarding time. Probably the best proof of that is in the recording of these two great German warhorses--the Beethoven 5th and Schumann's celebrated "Rhenish" symphony.

Both recorded at UCLA's Royce Hall--the Schumann in December 1980, the Beethoven two years later--this recording displays the orchestra at its very best under Giulini's inspired direction. Though his tempos would later become very slow, this is not the case with these two pieces, both of which flow very evenly by and make for a great seventy-two minutes worth of listening. The Schumann is excellently done, so much so that it may be one of the finest recordings of this work in the last forty years. Beethoven's 5th, meanwhile, is given a superb performance that is arguably surpassed by no one else, with the possible exception of Carlos Kleiber's celebrated 1976 Vienna Philharmonic recording.

A unique pairing of two seemingly different but equally dramatic German symphonic works, this recording comes vigorously recommended.

I was privileged to be in Los Angeles when Carlo Maria Giulini had his unfortunately short tenure with the Philharmonic there. But from 1978 through 1984, if one went to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion when Giulini conducted the orchestra, one heard some of the finest music making ever. The Philharmonic musicians truly played their hearts out for him. This recording is a prime example. This was the first recording of the Schumann Rhenish that I owned and it remains the "perfect" one to my ears. Tempos to me seem absolutely right and balances are wonderful. The Beethoven is another excellent recording and fully deserving of the phrase definitive. Get this recording!

Wow, just hearing the first movement should have you jumping around and conducting with your eyes closed. The sound that the LAPO produces is just about perfect for Beethoven, I love the lush strings, the pounding timpani and the thrilling horns of this orchestra and they give a majestic performance of this most famous symphony. The first movement is absolutely one of the best I've ever heard, much better than Carlos Kleiber! The only first movement that compares is Karajan's ultra intense 1962 version, which is truly grim and thrilling but Giulini even beats Karajan in some respects. Obviously the slow movement is gorgeous, Giulini leads us on with an expansive tempo and the most wonderful playing from his orchestra, the horns are awesome, no doubt about it! Unforgettable. The scherzo is not as driven as Karajan but the transition to the finale is highly combustible. The finale starts off explosively and wrings out every drop of emotion imaginable. Giulini takes a moderate tempo in the finale, emphasizing it's majestic nature but he also observes the exposition repeat in the finale. Later, because of the overall moderate tempo, towards the end of the symphony, things drag a bit. Oh, so what? The whole thing sounds pretty inevitable and romantically grandiose anyway, it works out. I just think that Giulini should have either taken a faster tempo in the finale or used the tempo he takes but dropped the repeat. You can't have everything when it comes to such an ultimately satisfying performance.

The Schumann Symphony 3, The 'Rhenish' is the coupling. Giulini's version is among the best ever recorded, powerful, lyrical and completely involving. The Cologne Cathedral movement is noteworthy, Giulini takes a faster tempo here than I would have liked but it sounds right somehow. I know for instance Karajan's Cologne Cathedral movement is too expansive in his Schumann recording.

The sound for both symphonies is utterly awesome, weighty, powerful, lush and with plenty of detail and ambience. Who would have known, Deutsche Grammophon could actually make some great digital recordings?! This CD is a must own for fans of great music and shows how fascinating a conductor Carlo Maria Giulini really was.

It is not always easy to describe Giulini's style. "Reserved" is the word that comes immediately to mind. "Slow" is another. These descriptions that I have for the man are shaped by his opera repertoire, of which I must admit I am not a tremendous fan. Not so with this recording!! The first movement is fast, yet never sounds rushed. "Urgent" is probably accurate. The next two display near-flawless performances, with Giulini getting the most out of the subtleties of the work. And the fourth movement is excellent- grand, triumphant, and joyous, much as it should in such a back-heavy piece as the 5th.

What I enjoyed most about this recording is the sound. Staging is very good, with tight string and horn sections. The bass is smooth- almost buttery. And the horns!! Their brilliance is wonderful, yet not overwhelming. Overall, one of the best recordings of the 5th in the past three decades, superior in this reviewer's opinion to Bernstein and von Karajan.

All of this applies for the most part to the Schubert symphony as well. Sometimes the image is a little looser, and Giulini seems to have less control over the sound, but it is still an appropriate companion to the Beethoven.

I never thought I would find an equal to Georg Solti's CSO performance of Beethoven's 5th. Lyrical playing, momentum, and timely power. Solti's award winning performance was justly praised. I have championed it for some ten-fifteen years. People would look at me like I was an idiot. They just hadn't heard it and didn't know. OK. But who was the loser for it?

Well, move over Beethoven. Giulini's great performance of the 5th belies all the silly rhetoric that he had simply gone supine and was off the deep end of age. Many of his greatest performances were during the 80-90's (with the LAPO, BPO, BRSO, and VPO)when he was supposed to be off the deep end of senility. Wonder how such an Altzheimer candidate could get all those first rate invitations! Just listen to his stupendous VPO performance -- not slow at all -- of 1990 of Brahms 3rd Symphony. Or his 1995 Brahms Requiem with the VPO. Maybe the critics are suffering more than the conductor from senility.

This is a stirring performance that is not rushed, but flows with a spontaneous beauty and power. It chisled by a well rehearsed orchestra that sounds like a European orchestra. There are few contemporary competitors to this performance. Giulini could conduct Beethoven as well as any of his contemporaries. However, he was a poet, and his sound is special because his vision is different.

I think anyone who gets this performance, as I have, will listen to it and marvel. Is there a more chisled and rock solid performance of this symphony to be had? There are lots of great performances of the Beethoven 5th. Rush to get this one before it is gone. Certainly when people learn how great it is, it will be gone quickly.

Unfortunately Carlo Maria Giulini is not as well known as more august contemporaries such as Karajan, Kubelik and Sawallisch, yet his introspective conducting deserves greater recognition. This Deutsche Grammophon recording includes two of his finest performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; during his short tenure as its music director, he elevated the Los Angeles Philharmonic into the first rank of distinguished American symphony orchestras. Under his baton, these Los Angelenos produced a warm, vibrant sound quite akin to those of great Central European orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic and Dresden Staatskapelle. Giulini was notorious for following slow tempi, yet his tempi in both works sound fine. Indeed, his reading of Beethoven's 5th Symphony is among the most emotionally stirring I have heard; little wonder that many regard it as a definitive performance. His reading of Schumann's 3rd Symphony is equally compelling. These recordings sound quite impressive due to Deutsche Grammophon's state of the art image bit digital remastering.

As a former symphony musician and a life-long listener with hundreds of CD's, I have to say that this is probably the best sounding symphony recording I have ever heard.

This recording makes you wish you could get more from the Giulini-LA era, but alas there is not much more.

If you can get the Archiv release, it will be money well spent. As other reviews have indicated, the Beethoven surpasses the other well-documented greats out there.

Carlo Maria Giulini may not be a household name, but he was one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century. (To the best of my knowledge Giulini is still alive at this writing, but he is in his early 80s and virtually retired.) Giulini tended to favor more moderate tempos than many more-famous conductors which allowed for the revelation of inner details which would have been obscured in more brisk performances. Nevertheless, Giulini had the genius to see and present each work as a whole, so that his revelation of inner details never seems fussy or eccentric. Rather, his performances tend to be uniquely beautiful and majestic -- and, often, definitive. Such is the case with the two symphonies presented on this CD. His performance of the Beethoven 5th is outstanding and the Schumann 3rd (the "Rhenish" Symphony) is the finest I've ever heard. If you love greatness in both music and its performance, please treat yourself to this CD. It may well lead you to purchase other recordings by this oustanding conductor.

I can't tell you how much I love this recording. It simply works. The orchestra is balanced, committed and beautiful sounding. Even if you own other versions of this work and are happy with them, give this a listen. I'd almost give this one the nod over Kleiber's version.

Giulini became less vigorous as he got older, and besides getting slower, his performances eschewed detail, pointing of accents, and precision. What Giulini went for instead was the spirit of each work--in fact, he only agreed to condcut works that he felt a personal affinity for. His Beethoven Fifth is the opposite of Carlos Kleiber's. Where Kleiber wanted to rejuvenate a thrice-familiar work by sharpening its contours and details, Giulini's tendency was to soften those things. His Beethoven doesn't thunder or rage; it flows like a broad, often leisurely river. The same is true of his Schumann Rhenish, which is expressive to the point of fulsomeness.

Although these recordings were made in 1980-82, Beethoven style would soon move even further in the opposite direction. Giulini missed the trend, but even for listeners who are attuned to period performances of greater speed and much less emotional invovlement, Giulini's generous musicalaity will speak directly to the heart.