Ludwig Van Beethoven - 9 Symphonies (legendary Karajan's 1963)

By general consensus, Herbert von Karajan's first (1963) Beethoven cycle for Deutsche Grammophon is the best of the four (!) that he recorded. The Berlin Philharmonic was in top form, and they had not yet made an artistic fetish out of the bland smoothness that typified the conductor's later recordings of this music (and just about everything else). Karajan's squeaky clean, emotionally cool Beethoven will always be something of an acquired taste, but this set makes the best possible case for it. --David Hurwitz This celebrated set, recorded in 1961-62, is generally considered the best of Herbert von Karajan's four Beethoven symphony cycles. (His cycles from the 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s are also available.) Karajan had trained the Berlin Philharmonic to produce an ultra-smooth sound -- the conductor's trademark -- yet their playing crackles with energy. The recorded sound has held up amazingly well, especially in this latest remastering...Barnes & Noble Herbert von Karajan recorded the symphonies of Beethoven four times in his remarkable career -- once with the Philharmonia in the Fifties and three times with the Berlin Philharmonic (1961-2, 1975-7, 1982-5). In many ways, his 60s cycle stands out from the other three. It was the first recording of the Nine to be conceived, planned and sold as an integral set. The initial purchasers had to pay a subscription for the LPs which were sent to them symphony by symphony. Thirty-six years later, this cycle has become somewhat of a benchmark for these cornerstones of the symphonic repartoire.Upon first hearing, I was struck by the tremendous enthusiasm in the playing of the orchestra. I can just imagine the excitement in the recording sessions, one of the finest orchestras of the time conducted by this energetic conductor at the start of what was to become a long tenure. This notion of a great event must have added a frisson to the atmosphere, and it certainly shows here...Isaak Koh Ah, fame! Beethoven is such a ubiquitous presence that even gangsters, immigrants, and devotees of Mantovani know his name, while bankers, rock hounds and mental patients will regale you with the joke about the origin of the Fifth Symphony in a landlady's odd laugh — Ha-ha-ha-huh! And because so much of his work is surefire, it communicates even when performed by bush league bands and amateurs. Which is to say that he is both superficially known and badly overexposed. As the trunk of the mighty Beethoven tree, the symphonies have been heard so often that, often, they are hardly heard at all. Ha-ha-ha-huh-ho hum. The glut of new Beethoven symphony recordings never ceases — the flood, at least, lasted but 40 days and 40 nights. The original instruments craze promised to deliver Beethoven's work with pristine authenticity by taking us back to limitations the composer manifestly sought to transcend. Meanwhile, we rummage among the rich trove of artifacts left by the great interpreters of the past — Mengelberg, Toscanini, Klemperer, Furtwangler — for revelations of the divine spark animating these Promethean works, and we find them inseparable from the flat, primitive technology of their era. But every generation presents us with a tiny elite of interpretive genius and Herbert von Karajan, born in 1908, had the great good fortune of having been born into a time and place in which his native gifts could play upon a rich inheritance. In the early 1960s, when these recordings were made, Karajan was in his vigorous mid-fifties, only recently at the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic — which he had already made his own— and playing to a superb recording technology which digitalization only gussies up a bit. A bloom attended everything he touched. Want the revolutionary Beethoven in all his power and his glory? Try Karajan in his prime...Adrian Corleonis

Berliner Philharmoniker
Herbert von Karajan: conductor
Gundula Janowitz: sopran
Hilde Rössel-Majdan: alt/contralto
Waldemar Kmentt: tenor
Walter Berry: bariton

cd1:
1. Symphony no.1 in C major, op.21 - Adagio molto. Allegro con brio (9:33)
2. Symphony no.1 in C major, op.21 - Andante cantabile con moto (5:53)
3. Symphony no.1 in C major, op.21 - Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace (3:57)
4. Symphony no.1 in C major, op.21 - Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace (5:51)
5. Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.5 - Allegro con brio (14:48)
6. Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.5 - Marcia funebre. Adagio assai (17:10)
7. Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.5 - Scherzo. Allegro vivace (5:48)
8. Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.5 - Finale. Allegro molto (12:20)
cd2:
1. Symphony no.2 in D major, op.36 - Adagio. Allegro con brio (10:21)
2. Symphony no.2 in D major, op.36 - Larghetto (10:36)
3. Symphony no.2 in D major, op.36 - Scherzo. Allegro (3:53)
4. Symphony no.2 in D major, op.36 - Allegro molto (6:28)
5. Symphony no.4 in B major, op.60 - Adagio. Allegro vivace (9:54)
6. Symphony no.4 in B major, op.60 - Adagio (9:58)
7. Symphony no.4 in B major, op.60 - Allegro vivace (5:45)
8. Symphony no.4 in B major, op.60 - Allegro ma non troppo (5:23)
cd3:
1. Symphony no. in C minor, op.67 - Allegro con brio (7:19)
2. Symphony no. in C minor, op.67 - Andante con moto (10:05)
3. Symphony no. in C minor, op.67 - Allegro (4:54)
4. Symphony no. in C minor, op.67 - Allegro (9:07)
5. Symphony n.6 in F major, op.68 'Pastorale' - Allegro ma non troppo (9:01)
6. Symphony n.6 in F major, op.68 'Pastorale' - Andante molto mosso (11:36)
7. Symphony n.6 in F major, op.68 'Pastorale' - Allegro (3:02)
8. Symphony n.6 in F major, op.68 'Pastorale' - Allegro (3:25)
9. Symphony n.6 in F major, op.68 'Pastorale' - Allegretto (8:46)
cd4:
1. Symphony No.7 in A major, op.92: I. Poco sostenuto · Vivace (11:27)
2. Symphony No.7 in A major, op. 92: II. Allegretto (8:01)
3. Symphony No.7 in A major, Op.92: III. Presto (7:50)
4. Symphony No.7 in A major, Op.92: IV. Allegro con brio (6:46)
5. Symphony No.8 in F major, op.93: I. Allegro vivace e con brio (9:20)
6. Symphony No.8 in F major, Op.93 - II. Allegretto scherzando (3:58)
7. Symphony No.8 in F major, Op.93 - III. Tempo di menuetto (5:58)
8. Symphony No.8 in F major, Op.93 - IV. Allegro vivace (7:06)
cd5:
1. Symphony no.9 in D minor, Op.125 "Choral" - I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso (15:32)
2. Symphony no.9 in D minor, Op.125 "Choral" - II. Molto vivace (11:03)
3. Symphony no.9 in D minor, Op.125 "Choral" - III. Adagio molto e cantabile (16:28)
4. Symphony no.9 in D minor, Op.125 "Choral" - IVa. Presto (6:22)
5. Symphony no.9 in D minor, Op.125 "Choral" - IVb. Presto · "O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!" · Allegro assai (17:34)

Artwork
FLAC:
cd1 Part1 – cd1 Part2 – cd1 Part3 – cd1 Part4
cd2 Part1 – cd2 Part2 – cd2 Part3 – cd2 Part4
cd3 Part1 – cd3 Part2 – cd3 Part3 – cd3 Part4
cd4 Part1 – cd4 Part2 – cd4 Part3 – cd4 Part4
cd5 Part1 – cd5 Part2 – cd5 Part3 – cd5 Part4
MP3:
cd1 Part1 – cd1 Part2
cd2 Part1 – cd2 Part2
cd3 Part1 – cd3 Part2
cd4 Part1 – cd4 Part2
cd5 Part1 – cd5 Part2

all my uploads here