BEETHOVEN: The Nine Symphonies

Berliner Staatskapelle
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Isokoski, Lang, Gambill, Pape

The brass resonates like old gold, the winds are no less colourful, and the dark, articulate strings at once caress and scorch. Likewise, the all-important timpani parts emerge with greater clarity than in many other Beethoven cycles, and the close-miked singers in the Ninth Symphony’s finale add much to that movement’s inner vitality. Barenboim observes nearly every repeat, and opts for such traditional reinforcements as the extended trumpet line in the Eroica Symphony’s first movement coda and added brass in the Ninth’s scherzo. Teldec’s spacious yet dynamic engineering suits both the music and Barenboim’s conceptions to a tee. In sum, these potent, concentrated, and powerfully inflected performances reveal the extraordinary degree to which Barenboim has internalised the German Beethoven tradition and made it his own.

ASIN: B00004S1EV
Number of discs: 6
Release Date: April 25, 2000
Label: Teldec

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