Search - Beethoven, Walter, Columbia Symphony :: Symphonies 5 & 7

Beethoven, Walter, Columbia Symphony
Symphonies 5 & 7
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
1. Symphony No. 5 in C minor ('Fate'), Op. 67: Allegro con brio
2. Symphony No. 5 in C minor ('Fate'), Op. 67: Andante con moto
3. Symphony No. 5 in C minor ('Fate'), Op. 67: Allegro
4. Symphony No. 5 in C minor ('Fate'), Op. 67: Allegro
5. Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92: Poco sostenuto - Vivace
6. Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92: Allegretto
7. Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92: Presto
8. Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92: Allegro con brio

CD Details

All Artists: Beethoven, Walter, Columbia Symphony
Title: Symphonies 5 & 7
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Sony
Original Release Date: 1/1/2000
Re-Release Date: 5/16/1995
Genre: Classical
Styles: Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Modern, 20th, & 21st Century, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 074646446324

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Bruno Walter recorded the Beethoven symphonies in stereo for Columbia in 1958-59, taping No. 9 in New York and Nos. 1-8 in Los Angeles with orchestras of freelance and studio musicians who rose magnificently to the occasion. Walter was in his eighties, but that didn't stop him from grabbing these works by the throat; there is no mincing around, no effusive lingering over phrases, and no ponderous trudging either. The even-numbered symphonies are sunny and outgoing, full of the warmth the conductor exuded during his Indian-summer years in the studio. Yet the drama of the odd-numbered works is not slighted. Walter's account of the Fifth, for example, is an intensely expressive one in which lyricism and thrust are in perfect balance--an evocation of stormy Romanticism at its best. The recordings have held up extremely well; the sound on these 20-bit CDs is spacious yet detailed, with amazing presence and solidity. --Ted Libbey

CD Reviews

Lifetime of listening pleasure

Larkenfield | 01/31/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first came upon these recordings over 40 years ago. I love Walter because his performances are organic--the music evolves naturally out of itself and never sounds forced... nor does it lack rhythmic vigor and variety. I recently got these marvelously remastered versions by Sony one by one and consider these works of genius performed by Walter the absolute backbone of my classics collection, and the remastered editions far exceeded my expectations of these almost 50 year-old recordings. I now have pieced together a complete set and I shall continue to enjoy them, because at least to me, they sound the most natural and characterist of the unmistakable sound of Beethoven. I think the composer himself would have approved of Walter's combination of musical charm, balance and egoless conducting. Walter's performance of the 7th is perhaps my favorite of the nine... with the 4th right up there too... but his performance of the 1st (on another CD) is just as meticulously performed and equal in enjoyment to Beethoven's later symphonies, including the immortal 5th. Those who are unable to come across the Walter's performances now will have no choice but to wait for the next reissue."