Search - Beethoven :: Beethoven: Complete Masterpieces (Germany) (60 CD Limited Edition Box Set)

A lot of music here for a low price

Alan Majeska | Bad Axe, MI, USA | 06/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Your reaction to this set will depend alot on what you are looking for, and how much you're willing to spend, but at about 90 cents/disc, including shipping, this is a bargain! David Zinman's Zurich Tonhalle recordings of the Beethoven Symphonies will not be to all tastes: he's influenced by the 1990s period instrument movement in Beethoven: very fast tempos in Allegros, faster than normal Andante and Adagio movements, a lean string sound, no vibrato in violins, and some tempo shifts which will shock those used to the traditional approaches of Bruno Walter, Karl Bohm, Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy, or Riccardo Muti. I call Zinman's Beethoven a cross between Norrington and Hogwood for tempos and Toscanini for lean textures... I prefer Bohm and Walter in the symphonies.



Zinman's tempos in the Overtures (2 discs) are more conventional, leaning to the fast side, but somehow seem easier for me to listen to than many of the symphonies.



Karl Rickenbacher conducts the Lithuanian Chamber Philharmonia in Beethoven's only full length ballet, "The Creatures of Prometheus" and it is a very good performance. I have also David Zinman/Rochester Philharmonic (New York) (Vox) for comparison, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (DG), and Rickenbacher does not pale in comparison with either of them. I had never heard of the Lithuanian Chamber Philharmonia, but they are an excellent ensemble, brilliantly recorded by RCA and re-released here.



Christian Tetzlaff is excellent in the Violin Concerto, and Yukio Yokoyama's Piano Sonatas are very fine, recorded in excellent Digital sound. Ormandy's Columbia "Christ on the Mount of Olives" is also very fine: it has been years since it's commercial release, and this release may be the first time on CD. Lorin Maazel's Vienna Philharmonic "Wellington's Victory" from the early 1980s is here, and the very slow opening sections become wearisome (inferior to Karajan/DG, or Ormandy/RCA, for example) but the battle sections and closing "Victory Symphony" are very well done with sensible tempos and really exciting playing by the great VPO.



You get 60 discs for about $50.00 - under $.90 per disc, so the price is very low, even if you don't like some of the recordings offered. You can always supplement better recordings of the Symphonies, Overtures, Piano Concertos, etc. for instance. But the sonatas are consistently very fine.

And, you get Pinchas Zukerman/Mark Neikrug in the Violin/Piano Sonatas, among the best recordings of these works!



I'd get this, and add Karl Bohm's recordings of the symphonies (DG),

Rubinstein/Leinsdorf in the Piano Concertos (RCA), Karajan/Berlin Phil. in the Overtures (DG, Galliera) and perhaps Kempff and Pollini for a different view of some of the Piano Sonatas (DG).



This is a decent offering of Sony and BMG's recordings from the Columbia, RCA and Arte Nova catalogs. I hope SonyBMG will have similar products/ editions of a single composer, and offer more of the Columbia Ormandy/Philadelphia recordings which have been long out of print to the public. I'm pleased with this, and would recommend it if you like bulk items: alot of music!, and bargains."

Here's the list of works !!!

A. Tosta | Sao Paulo BR | 09/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"CD 1-5: Die 9 Sinfonien - Tonhalle Orchester Zürich/David Zinman

CD 6-7: Ouvertüren - Tonhalle Orchester Zürich/David Zinman

CD 8: Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus op.43 (Ballettmusik) - Litauische Kammerphilharmonie/Karl Anton Rickenbacher

CD 9: Orchester-,Klavier-, Flöten und Violinwerke

CD 10-12: 5 Klavierkonzerte - Yefim Bronfman/Tonhalle Orchester Zürich/David Zinman

CD 13: Violinkonzert op.61 + Die 2 Violinromanzen op.40+50 - Christian Tetzlaff/Tonhalleorchester Zürich/David Zinman

CD 14: Tripelkonzert op.56; Septett op.20 - Yefim Bronfman/Tonhalle Orchester Zürich/David Zinman

CD 15-18: Die 10 Violinsonaten - Pinchas Zukerman/George Neikrug

CD 19-20: Die 5 Cellosonaten + Variationen - Anner Bylsma/Jos van Immerseel

CD 21-25: Die 12 Klaviertrios - Seraphin Trio

CD 26: Die Streichtrios op.3 und op.8 - L'Archibudelli

CD 27: Die Streichtrios op.9,1-3 - Kandinsky String Trio

CD 28: Klavierquartett op.16 (Streicherfassung); Klavierquintett op.16 (Bläserfassung) - Emanuel Ax/Isaac Stern/ Jaime Lardo/YoYo Ma/Ensemble Wien-Berlin

CD 29: Kammermusik für Streicher und Holzbläser - L'Archibudelli

CD 30: Oktett op.103 / Klarinettensextett op.71 / Märsche für Bäser, u.a. - Mozzafiato

CD 31-39: Die 16 Streichquartette - Alexander String Quartet

CD 40-50: Die 32 Klaviersonaten - Yukio Yokoyama, Charles Rosen, Vladimir Horowitz, Justus Frantz, Gerhard Oppitz, Robert Casadesus

CD 51: Die Bagatellen für Klavier Solo - Yukio Yokoyama

CD 52: Die Variationen für Klavier Solo - Yukio Yokoyama

CD 53: Diabelli-Variationen + 4 Klavierstücke WoO - Olli Mustonen

CD 54: Lieder von den Britischen Inseln - Elaine Woods/Carolyn Watkinson/Richard Salter/Helmut Deutsch

CD 55: Christus am Ölberge op.85 - Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy

CD 56: Messe op.86 - Tokyo Oratorio Society/Ensemble of Tokyo/Wolfdieter Maurer

CD 57: Missa Solemnis op.123 - Tonhalle Orchester Zürich/David Zinman

CD 58: Chorwerke - Regine Crespin/New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Thomas Schippers,Ambrosian Opera Chorus/London Symphony Orchestra/Tilson Thomas Martina Arroyo/Justine Diaz/Camerata Singers

CD 59-60: Fidelio op.72 - Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Kurt Masur"

Not for the completists, but awesome for everyone else

Michael Suh | 08/24/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, so I realize Sony never claimed this set to be the "complete" works of Beethoven. It's just the "Masterpieces." But given Brilliant Classics released the complete works of Bach on 155 CDs, Mozart on 170 CDs, and now Chopin on 17 CDs, would it have been so bad to finish a set that's already more than two-thirds done?



Kudos for putting on some un-masterpiece works like the Piano Concerto No. 0. But a major gaping hole is the lieder -- there's almost none of it here. I personally don't care much for lieder as a whole, and Beethoven's isn't very good to start with, but those who like German songs could be sorely disappointed. Most of the works published posthumously are also missing, with the exception of a few famous ones (Fur Elise, for example). But it would have been nice to include at least a little bit of the obscure stuff; Beethoven did have some duds that would have been interesting to hear.



The recordings are very good, even if they're not the best. Here's a general gloss on the major blocks of works: I personally like the symphonies on period instruments, but the tempos are definitely too fast. They're not ideal reads, but they're a fresh perspective; if you really need another set, spend the $12 or whatever it costs these days to get one of the hundreds of recordings of Beethoven symphonies out there. The piano sonatas are very good. The concertos are very run of the mill, but the Triple Concerto is superbly good. The chamber music as a whole is pretty ordinary, but there are some string quartets that stand out -- the earlier ones are better performed.



There are currently two complete sets of Beethoven's music out there, each with 87 CDs. If you have the money and patience to find all the pieces of DG's set, it's the gold standard. A bargain-priced one by Cascade Medien is horrendous -- avoid it because it isn't worth the $80 price tag. For the quality vs. price analysis, this Sony set really just can't be beat.



So, for those of you who are looking for a complete set, hold out until Brilliant Classics does something. But this almost-complete set should tide you over until that day finally comes."