Symphony No. 9 in d minor, op. 125

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Sir Roger Norrington (Conductor), SWR Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart (Orchestra), Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart (Orchestra), Franz-Josef Selig (Performer), Jonas Kaufmann (Performer), Iris Vermillion (Performer), Camilla Nylund (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Franz-Josef Selig, Jonas Kaufmann, Iris Vermillion, Camilla Nylund
• Orchestra: SWR Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart
• Conductor: Sir Roger Norrington
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (May 1, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hanssler Classics
• ASIN: B00009QH6R
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #372,424 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Sixteen years after Sir Roger Norrington’s controversial readings of the Beethoven Symphonies, the maestro returns to this repertoire with a new recording of the Ninth Symphony. This recording is the first release of all nine symphonies, scheduled to be completed by mid-2003. Recorded from a live performance during the European Musikfest in Stuttgart in the summer of 2002, these new performances will be a fascinating document for collectors, as they experience how Norrington’s conception of these scores has grown. Performed on modern instruments, by an orchestra steeped in the traditions of the German Romantic School, an artistic tension is set in motion, and both conductor and the orchestra are transformed. As with Sir Roger Norrington’s acclaimed recording of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (Hänssler 93006) "[Norrington] has a way of seeing the piece whole which makes the others' insights seem patchier.. " quote, BBC Music Magazine. The choice of instruments, whether old or new, plays a subordinate role for Roger Norrington. For him, it is the very essence of the work, with all its internal tensions and unique logic, as originally conceived by Beethoven that music be revealed.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars REVOLUTIONARY BEETHOVEN, October 27, 2003

By 

NotATameLion (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Symphony No. 9 in d minor, op. 125 (Audio CD)

While by no means my favorite recording of Beethoven's 9th symphony, I have truly enjoyed this disc and the others in Norrington's new live Beethoven cycle on Hanssler. Just as Helmuth Rilling's semi-historically informed performances revolutionized recordings of Bach, expect to see a lot more "middle path" recordings of Beethoven thanks to Maestro Norrington. Just don't expect many to attain this kind of excellence.

I have strong feelings about Norrington's far inferior earlier Beethoven cycle on EMI (I don't like it at all--it turns people off to period performances). This performance of the ninth is so far above the old one in quality that it is almost funny. One can only assume the continuing growth of the conductor combined with superior (altogether different) forces for this second recording are the reasons for the vast improvement.

Norrington (in recording #2 mind you) has a great grasp of this work as a whole. I have to say that I have never heard anyone do a better job with the inner movements. I also love the period percussion.

As for the competition:

If you want just one Beethoven 9th I still fervently believe Barenboim is the way to go. Norrington stacks up favorably with anybody else (Furtwangler is another great choice). This recording far surpasses Herrewghe as my favorite historically informed version.

I give this recording my heartfelt recommendation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ferocious performance, July 13, 2009

By 

William J. Mertens (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Symphony No. 9 in d minor, op. 125 (Audio CD)

It is as if Norrington has reinvented Beethoven's Ninth. This performance sounds like none other that I know. It is more radical even than Norrington's recording with his period instrument group, the London Classical Players, in the late 1980s (and it avoids some bizarrely fast tempos of the earlier recording), and more radical than other "historically informed" performances.

Norrington is famous for following Beethoven's own quite fast metronome markings as well as for getting his string players to avoid the continuous vibrato that had become standard in orchestras world-wide. The contrast between Norrington's approach and, say, Karajan's, is sharpest in the first movement, a compelling and also fantastically complicated piece of music. A conventional performance nonetheless finds beauty and warmth in it. Norrington, it seems, will have none of that. Instead of producing a rich, vibrato sound on extended notes, his strings stab at the notes. At Norrington's fast tempo, the result is a ferocity I've not heard in the music before.

Norrington's strings do less well in the slow movement when a more lyrical sound - produced by some vibrato - would do better in my opinion. Norrington's approach does seem wrong in the fourth movement when the strings come in with the Ode to Joy theme. If any instrumental passage in the symphony should sound lyrical, this is it, but it doesn't here.

Still, for us listeners, the main point is that Norrington makes us hear the music as we have not heard it before.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite So Far, October 20, 2007

By 

Andrew S. Linton - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Symphony No. 9 in d minor, op. 125 (Audio CD)

I bought this CD at a used book/CD store for $3.95. I have other recordings by Roger Norrington but not Beethoven's 9th. I think this is one of the best versions recorded. The tempos move and the orchestra is spot on. This is a gutsy performance and on top of that, live.