Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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 .

Awesome in its purity, unity and majesty! The tempo is excellent. It neither drags nor flies by too fast. The power of the First Movement in particular swoops down like a violent, cleansing but controlled wind; it lifts you up and carries you to symphony heaven. The quartet/choral performance in the Fourth Movement is equally compelling and successfully realized. I am no sound expert, but on my car stereo every note I heard, instrumental and vocal, was crisp and REAL. A superb execution of one of classical music's greatest works.

The collected reviewers who praise this as "the greatest" Beethoven Ninth are bucking the tide -- Ormandy's reputation for Beethoven is negligible, if you pay attention to critical consensus. Yet those of us over fifty remember a time when he and the Philadelphians dominated U.S. classical record sales, only giving way to Bernstein in the mid-Sixties. I approached this CD with little hope that Ormandy would be more than proficient. But I had a surprise in store. The first movement is better played and recorded than George Szell's esteemed Ninth. There is considerable drama, and the woodwinds in particular play with brio. This isn't profound Beethoven, but Ormandy surpasses many rivals in terms of sheer enjoyment.

The same hold true in the scherzo, which is alert and lively. Repeats are mostly skipped, but the engineers once again have caught the woodwinds in great form. Surely, I thought, the Adagio would prove to be Ormandy's downfall -- after all, this is the most exalted slow movement in Western music. HIs pacing is a bit brisk, about the same as Szell's (15:42), but the Philadelphians sound gorgeous compared to the well drilled but austere Clevelanders. As with the earlier movements, Ormandy plays this music for ravishing sensuality. This doesn't mean that the melodic line is slack; without probing the depths, Ormandy knows how to keep the whole movement together.

The thin recording, tending to shrillness at loud dynamic levels, harms the opening of the Finale, with the cellos and double basses stabbing too fiercely; Ormandy sounds blunt here rather than cosmically dissonant. His pacing continues to be too fast and brusque, but that's better than languishing. Extroverted excitment is the order of the day throughout, which also isn't a bad thing. We head downhill, however, with a strident, nasal John Macurdy rushing through the great bass solo. At Ormandy's hectic pace, the whole solo quartet is hard pressed to handle their stressed vocal line. Soprano Lucina Amara is over-miked and out of tune. I dreaded the appearance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir ( huge seller in that era), but they acquit themselves well, singing robustly and in tune -- comparison with the Wiener Singverein aren't absurd, even if the choir's German is stiff and syllabic.

By the end, I was rooting for Ormandy, and this dark horse Ninth certainly delivers for three movements. It turned out to be an enjoyable surprise despite the rough and tumble finish.

I find the interpretation to be subtle, without losing any of the passion of the piece. The recording quality is excellent as well. I highly recommend this disc to anyone.

Until last week I'd never heard this CD. I was being driven into Columbus (Ohio) for an eye appointment. I asked my friend David if he'd bought his van because of the sound system. He laughed, had had no idea it was so good under after the fact. He'd put on the 9th and I was stunned.

"Mein Gott!" Who, what...?

"Ormandy."

I grew up with Ormandy but, truly, hadn't thought about him for years. I have a Samson in Italian conducted by him with Vickers and Simionato. Moving on...

When it reached the choral section, I was undone, both of us with tears running at the same time we were laughing with such joy... he paying attention to where he was going.

Truly, the sound was fine, but it could have been the confined space and the world turned to Whoopee!

He didn't recall the singers - and I couldn't tell - aside from the stupendous Mormon choir. I couldn't wait to see who was the soprano and the Heldentenor.

Lucine Amara? Are you kidding me? She can't sing. LOL I was then amused to see that someone else couldn't stand her. But I could stand her in this performance. And then there was John Alexander - wow! - and McCurdy, very fine voices. Lily Chikoosian I didn't recognize either, but that's not surprising. I Googled her and so far as I know, Google has never heard of her.

I'm tempted to buy the vinyl offered on Amazon. I have the CSO from years ago - to me, that meant the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. So having moved to Ohio, I was stunned to hear "CSO" with some frequency: Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati (named after Farmer Cincinnatus, 5th C BCE).

At the moment I'm hearing Mackerras, the 5th, and the Royal Liverpudlians - with Rogers, D. Jones, Bronder and Terfel.

My opera collection is much, much larger than instrumental works. But who can resist most of Beethoven?

There are myriads of versions of the Ninth-- the work is, after all, one of the archetypal artistic monuments of humankind, like the Sistine Chapel or Dante's Divine Comedy-- but no other recorded version comes so close the the soul, the spirit, of Beethoven's inspiration as this. Eugene Ormandy guides and manipulates the enormous forces with amazing subtlety. The three orchestral movements are splendid: the mystery of the opening, its shattering recapitulation, and the incredible, menacing coda, fraught with such anger, bitterness, and pain; the magnificent Scherzo, with its whirling counterpoint, rhetorical tympani outbursts, and multifarious textures; the luscious Adagio. And crowning the whole performance is a stupendous rendition of the final Ode to Joy. The soloists, particularly the baritone and tenor, are excellent: at times, in too many performances, they overdo decoration and try to show off, and it ends up sounding grotesque; Macurdy pares away the unessential and delivers a clean, powerful recitative. And Alexander does the same with the delightful and stirring Alla Marcia section, followed by that exciting double-fugato for orchestra. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is perfect in articulating Beethoven's textures and melodies, and, in the awe-filled "Ihr Sturzt Nieder?" Section, the modal harmonies and otherworldliness is breathtaking. Throughout, orchestra, chorus and soloists exude the joy, enthusiasm, and great-heartedness that make this work so universal in its meaning and immediate in its appeal-- right through to the thrilling, breathtaking coda. At top price this would still be a first recommendation-- and at budget price, everyone can revel in this Mount Everest of Western Art!

Overall excellent, but could not stand the Soprano (Amara).

Ah, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 or should I say the immortal Beethoven Symphony No. 9 is beyond a doubt the most incredible Choral/Symphony piece ever known to mankind.

It is a piece which is capable of uniting all types of cultures from all types of backgrounds and is well deserved of it's fame. I can still remember the memorable Winter Olympics in Japan in which the Ninth was performed in several lands across the world simultaneously via satellite.

Beethoven would be proud to see the symbolic representation his piece is considered throughout the world.

Therefore, we all as lovers of this piece are quite selective in terms of what version of this sacred piece we will buy and treasure for the rest of our lives. I have several versions of Beethovens 4 movement but never have I actually owned his entire work.

That is until now. Eugene Normandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra along with the soloists and Mormon Tabernacle Choir are with out a doubt at the top of their performance in this piece.

I was at first skeptical because I did not really hear of any real famous reviews of this piece. I'm sure there have been many but I'm only saying I was not able to find any for myself. I do know however that I've never known of a bad CBS Great Performance CD ever. This has once again proven to be the case. This version of Beethoven's Ninth is exactly as the record label suggests. A great performance to be held close to the heart.

Eugene can get praise for a very important reason. He does not follow the classic and tiresome trend of performing the Choral finale at all out fortissimo with little regard for dynamics. No, instead he not only goes by dynamics in this piece but he does it in such a way as to exihilirate even the most stone hearted of critic. It's performed with such emotion that it nearly takes on a magic all of it's own.

The choir and soloists are never at anytime trying to over perform the piece to where it comes out as a lot of yelling and vocal competition. I have to give special praise for that as well. The orchestra at no time lacks in their intensity and will not dissapoint.

In the end, you'll simply have to buy this piece and hear for yourself what a wonderful performance this is. It also comes at a great price that cant be beat.