Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral"

John Alexander, Lucine Amara, Lili Chookasian, John Macurdy, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: September 29, 1987
• Label: Sony Classical
• Copyright: Originally released 1966 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
• Total Length: 1:04:43
• Genres:
• ASIN: B00138F7WE
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,490 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Horrible recording of a great performance, May 9, 2006

By 

Bob DuHamel (El Cajon, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 "Choral" (Audio CD)

In my book this was the definitive performance of Beethoven's 9th even if Ormandy skipped the repeats in the second movement, as he is wont to do. The performance lives up to everything said by previous reviewers and more. If you believe that there are two classes of conductor, Eugene Ormandy then all the others, this is a must-have CD despite it's major flaws. I bought this recording on vinyl in the 1970s and finally got the CD. What a disappointment. The original analog recording sounds great in the softer areas but the tape is saturated in some of the loud parts. There are many places where you can clearly hear the harmonic distortion, especially when the timpani are playing loudly. There are also occasional dropouts, with a major one in the left channel about 1:25 into the first movement (it sounds like a wrinkle in the tape but seeing that it is in only one channel it's probably a flaw in the oxide). In the third movement there is so much crackling and popping that I could swear they digitized a vinyl recording for the CD. Seriously, I think the master tape must have been lost or damaged and this CD was made from a bad copy. Also, I know there is an Ormandy recording where he takes the repeats in the second movement. I borrowed it from the public library as part of the complete symphonies many years ago. Columbia apparently edited the repeats out to fit the symphony on a single vinyl disk for the single-disk release. Why didn't they use the unedited version here? There's room on the CD. This recording is a must-hear because it is an unbeatable performance of the 9th, and I'm glad to have it. However, don't clamp on your best headphones and expect to hear an excellently-engineered recording. The quality of the recording is, unfortunately, second-rate.

Update: There is an excellent recording of the Ormandy performance of Beethoven's 9th available. It's out of print but available used here at Amazon if you search "Beethoven symphony 9 Ormandy". It is the two-disk set that includes the Choral Fantasy. It's a bit pricey on the used market but it sounds excellent and includes the repeats in the second movement.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ormandy shines up Beethoven's 9th with Philadelphia polish., November 5, 2007

By 

Joe Anthony "Joe Anthony" (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 "Choral" (Audio CD)

I am glad to finally have this recording on CD!

As a teenager I purchased this recording of Beethoven's 9th in record form about 25 years ago. It was, and still is, part of Columbia's budget Classical line. Beethoven's 9th is one of the most majestic pieces of music. The opening movement rolls out powerfully with some anguish; the second is a rousing march; the third is a lovely and soaring pastoral image; the forth is a twenty-five minute long symphony within a symphony: reprising the opening then moving into the coral finale "Ode to Joy".

No wonder that this piece captured the imagination of Bruckner and Mahler whose twenty symphonies combined all attempt to use Beethoven's Ninth as a prototype. And no wonder Brahms and Wagner, as much as they may not have liked each other, also tried to capture Beethoven's sweeping energy as well.

As for this particular performance, I find it to be quite balanced, expansive when needed (as in the beautiful "Adagio"), and interesting throughout. All-in-all, for the money it is about the finest 9th you can get, which is quite interesting as Maestro Eugene Ormandy was not known as a very good conductor of Beethoven.

Comparisons: Bernstein/NYPO; Walter/Columbia SO; Munch/BSO; Karajan; Furtwangler/Bayreuth Orch.; Furtwangler/Berlin Phil. Orch.

P.S.

Any discussion of Beethoven's 9th would be remissed if it failed to discusss the outstanding wartime Furtwangler version (with the Berlin Phil). My advice is to buy the Furtwangler version for the raw energy and thunderous power; get the Ormandy version for his brand of silver-and-gold Philadelphia polish.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Melodic And Moving, January 8, 2011

By 

August West "Surfster" (long beach, ny) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 "Choral" (Audio CD)

like others here i had the lp , received as a young teen as a Christmas gift , in the 70's . thankfully this is the one i grew up on . over the years i have listened to many Ninth's and finally have come around to getting this one on disc and revisiting it . it has it all . it is melodic , powerful , with full orchestral effects , beautiful . as suggested in another review : this and Furtwanglers '42 in Berlin is a wonderful way to know the Ninth .