Advantages: Superb production, fascinating footage, great music Disadvantages: None whatsoever apart from wanting more
others. Some of the conductors featured are Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Thomas Beecham, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Richard Strauss, Leopold Stokowski and Bruno Walter to single out a few names.
Right from the opening of the documentary you realise the high quality of the production values on this DVD as Beethoven's 5th Symphony segues seamlessly between different performances by very different conductors. Hearing the same piece conducted by Toscanini, von Karajan, Klemperer and Szell heightens the contrasts between the styles and interpretations of each of these highly individual maestri.
One of the big plus-points of this DVD is that along with copious extracts from performances and rehearsals, one is given complete performances of several works including Beethoven's "Egmont Overture" conducted by Serge Koussevitzky ...
Advantages: A new way to hear Beethoven Disadvantages: Surpassed by some later period cycles
INTRODUCTION
Beethoven's nine symphonies cover one of the major cornerstones of symphonic literature along with the likes of Haydn, Brahms and Sibelius. Beethoven was born in turbulent times when the common people's dissatisfaction toward the ruling monarchs in Europe was reaching new heights which finally culminated in the French Revolution in 1789. Against this came Beethoven, who was born into a family of musicians in Bonn in 1770. His father wanted to coin in on the child prodigy market created by Mozart whose father had exploited his genius in a similar way. But Beethoven was no Mozart. He wasn't born a child progidy and his performing skills were nowhere near as natural as they were with Mozart. Still he made rapid progress as a piano virtuoso and an amateur composer. He was even supposed to take some lessons with Mozart in Wien ...
Advantages: Outstanding music on period instruments Disadvantages: Swaping C.D'S in music player.
The 9 symphonies by Ludwig Van Beethoven. (1770 - 1827)
Performed by The London Classical Players.
Conducted by Sir Roger Norrington.
With the Schutz choir of London.
Not everybody likes classical music. Even those who do, do not all like the same things.
This boxed set of CD's if different from previous recordings.
Firstly, it is played on period instruments. This is not to everybody?s taste.
These instruments are not like today?s instruments. For instance, the violin has a cleaner but more plaintive tone. The woodwinds
each has a colour and clarity of tone that blends to a harmonious whole. The timpani, those smaller drums, are hit with hard sticks more reminiscent of military drum sounds. The horn section has a different feel to it.
Considering the lapse of some 184 years, it would be strange if the sounds ...
