Thread: Question on New Edition of Beethoven Symphonies

Jonathan Del Mar generated the so called New Edition of Beethoven Symphonies for Bärenreiter. My question is: which recording has been using this edition, and how big is the difference from the traditional take of these works?

I know Abbado's new Berlin recording from late 90s or early 2000s uses this edition, and I did not remember to memorize any significant difference.

David Zinman also used the Bärenreiter Edition for his Beethoven cycle with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

OK. So the remaining question is: how big is the difference in the new edition compared to the older one used for the past century?

I couldn't make out any differences between the Zinman cycle and my Karajan one, except for the leaner sound and faster tempi of Zinman. But I'm not a Beethoven scholar. The Zinman CDs come with liner notes by Del Mar in which he points out some of the changes in the Bärenreiter Edition, but those concern mostly minor aspects like phrasing. Although, the recording of the Ninth comes with two versions of the finale: one with a newly inserted tutti rest in bar 747 and one without.

Thanks for the information. Hope someone can hear the difference from some new recordings.