Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 ~ Mehta

Marilyn Horne (Artist), Margaret Price (Artist), Jon Vickers (Artist), Salminen (Artist), Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Zubin Mehta (Conductor), New York Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: New York Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Zubin Mehta
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (June 21, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003F18
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,334 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #13 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Horne, Marilyn

Track Listings

1. Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: Allegro ma non troppo

2. Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: Molto vivace

3. Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: Adagio molto e cantabile

4. Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: Presto - Allegro assai / Recitative - Allegro assai

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magic, November 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 ~ Mehta (Audio CD)

As far as live recordings of Beethoven go, this one delivers a knockout punch to ANY of the competition. Recorded in late 1983, this full digital CD has much to offer, with very little to be seen as anything but stupendous. To begin with, the New York Philharmonic is at its very best for this piece under the baton of maestro Mehta. His conducting is subtle, and even (dare I say it?) light. He sweetens the musical phrases to pure perfection in the First movement, and allows for the pathos of the Second to come shining through. The Fourth movement is breathtaking, with such an attention to shading, and orchestral color thatone is left almost breathless. This is no heavy teutonic reading which believes that the only correct volume for this piece is FORTISSIMO. This is supple and very well balanced. As for the singers, they are every bit up to the challenge that Maestro Mehta has put them. Salminen is as basso-profundoish as ever, and resounds splendidly in the acoustics of Avery Fisher Hall. Marliyn Horne is one of the few Mezzo/Altos who refuses to be vocally outdone in a recording of the 9th, she sounds superb here, as the twilight of her major career was upon her. The same can be said for Margaret Price, who, although not at the end of her career, has such wonderful flexiblity of tone, and does not SCREETCH on the high notes, but handles them with grace and precision. Jon Vickers is the ideal choice of any tenor for this vocal part, and performes with tremendous heroic tone, even if he is a little more wobbly than in his earlier days, it is more than made up for in the sheer power of his voice. All in all, a little bit of magic preserved on disc.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One of Mehta's rare Beethoven recordings (and a good one), June 6, 2006

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 ~ Mehta (Audio CD)

Zubin Mehta has squandered golden opportunities to record a complete Beethoven cycle with any orchestra from L.A. to Tel Aviv, New York to Berlin. Over four decades he's made only a handful of Beethoven symphony recordings, preferring to concentrate instead on being the accompanist for various pianists and violinists in the Beethoven concertos--odd.

This proficient Ninth Sym. from 1983 comes off as a very good night at Avery Fisher Hall. Mehta remains insistently middle-of-the-road. He sets moderate tempos and keeps to them, and his preferred volume level is a steady mezzo-forte except in climaxes. I wish he wouldn't goose-step through several of the big choral entries in the finale, but it adds to the visceral excitement he obviously wanted there.

Mehta's not one for nuance, yet as I listened I found myself appreciating his sensible ways. He's helped by the New York Phil. in good form--not great, as some reviewers claim. The professional Choral Artists in the finale are excellent, and a quarter of big-name soloists delivers. Vickers and Horne both shout, but Mehta is enouccraging larger-than-life singing from everyone, so they don't stand out too badly. One searches for any personal ideas about the Ninth, any mystery or tears. They aren't to be found, but as a solid professional performance, this mid-price RCA relwase is satisfying.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not fantastic, March 28, 2004

By 

Prescott Cunningham Moore (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 ~ Mehta (Audio CD)

Zubin Mehta's Ninth was nothing special when it was first released in the `90s and its musical value has only diminished over time. On paper, it seems like a soloist dream team but the women, especially Price, are past their prime while Vicker's voice had darkened so as to rob the Turkish march of some of its inherent heroics. The Philharmonic is it's usual professional collective self but internal balances are not fantastic and string attacks are not always as clean as they should be. Add to this Avery Fisher's tubby and awkward acoustics and you can get the general idea.

And what of the man at the podium? It is certainly nice to have a recording of Mehta performing Beethoven, but he does not do anything special that makes this performance necessary for collectors acquire. The recapitultory climax in the first movement is excessively bloated, the scherzo sounds somewhat lead-footed due to the general lack of rhythmic crispness, and the adagio suffers due to the oddly distant sounding winds, especially the clarinets. One need not look far to find better Ninths. RCA's recording with Gunter Wand is as fine a recording as any and Sony's Szell is rightly a classic. Those that like Mehta's high calorie way with this music will find Karajan a more rewarding experience while newer Ninths from the likes of Barenboim and Vanska give us not only better playing and sound but also the new Bärenreiter edition.