Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Herbert von Karajan (Conductor), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (November 9, 1993)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001GJM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #75,925 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Karajan's final Beethoven Symphony recordings were among my first CDs, October 8, 2005

By	Alan Majeska "Alan Majeska" (Bad Axe, MI, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This disc has nostalgia value, as it was one of the first CDs I owned in 1986, the beginning of my CD experience. I expected much of Karajan's final Beethoven recordings but was disappointed. The sound is not as natural and there is not enough treble in the highest registers as the earlier DG Beethoven Symphony recordings made in 1961-2 and 1975-77, but what concerns me most are the tempos. Some of the Allegro movements are too slow: sluggish, and in the words of one critic around the time this was released,"like Klemperer on a bad day." Apt, I'm afraid.

I don't mean to be too hard on Karajan (1908-1989) who was without a doubt one of the great conductors of the 20th century, and made a huge number of recordings from 1947 until his death in 1989, mostly for DG, Decca, and EMI. But these recordings are disappointing, and there are so many to choose from for these works.

Still, if you are a Karajan fan, go for them. I found Symphony 2 to be better played here than Symphony 1, but that may be only my perception. For both Symphonies, I like recordings by Bruno Walter (Sony), Karl Bohm (DG), or Karajan's earlier Berlin recordings (1961, 1975 - both DG, but analog sound) better than these.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Solid Beethoven, March 24, 2005

By	David M. Garrett (San Antonio, Texas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Beethoven symphony cycle is tremendous. Lost in the greater known works (i.e., Symphonies 3, 5, 6, 9) are the other gems such as 1 and 2. Karajan and the BPO do an admirable job of calling attention to these "lesser" works.

Symphony No. 1, when first performed in 1800, received apt contemporary praise as a "magnificent artistic creation" despite some concern that the performance was too dominated by the wind instruments. Certainly not the case in this current rendition, as Karajan and Berlin delivers on another contemporary observation that "the masterpiece which does equal honour to Beethoven's powers of invention and to his musical expertise." The performance is Beethoven's but will remind some of Mozart and Hayden, whom Beethoven studied and complimented through much of his early work. Symphony No. 2 is played with equal aplumb, full of vitality and energy.

Part of Deutsche Grammophone's 20-CD "Karajan Gold" series, the sound in this CD is excellent as are the liner notes. Hard to imagine a better recording of Beethoven's first two symphonic efforts.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding Second Sym. from Karajan's last cycle, July 14, 2006

By	Santa Fe listener - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Karajan was old-fashioned enough to see little difference between early and late Beethoven style. He wasn't inlined to treat Sym. #1 and 2 as holdovers from the age of Haydn; they speak in Beethoven's mature voice. To some extent this approach is dated. The First in particular seems a bit lumbering under Karajan, and the Berlin Phil. feel constrained, holding back their power while still remaining at full force. (Abbado would drastically scale back the number of musicians in his cycle from Berlin.) The result is a proficient but rather joyless reading.

The Second is another story. There's enough real Beethoven here for Karajan to allow his musicians to expand. This Second is large-scale and often muscular, even in the soft-hearted Larghetto. Again, not the true historical story but true to German tradition. In other symphonies Karajan modernizes tradition by being faster and leaner; here he doesn't. Thanks to Karajan's talents, his traditional reading is convincingly alive. In fact, unless you demand period style, this is one of the best Seconds to be had, and the improved sonics of the Karajan Gold edition surpass the sound DG produed for Karajan's two ealier versions form the Sixties and Seventies.