The enforced COVID lockdown has given me the chance to catch up on another set of Beethoven cycles so here is Part 14 of my cycle reviews, a little earlier than expected.
Rating are as always:
C Satisfactory cycle. Ok, but nothing to shout about
B- Good cycle but flawed (see decriptions in thread).
B Good standard. A decent library set or better.
B+ Very good set. Some very impressive performances. Well worth investing in.
A- Excellent set just missing a little something to take it to the top of the pile but all performances very good or better.
A* Wow! Currently the cream of the crop out there in LvB Cycleland. Buy, borrow or listen, now!
Dorati / RPO
![]()
I'll start this survey with the rarest cycle here (and one of the rarest around). In the mid 70s Dorait laid down this cycle for Mercury. It's never made it to CD (apart from one savvy punter who ripped these direct from LP and released them in a short run in Japan - and that's where I got my LP rip from). The set itself is rather disjointed, cuased by Dorati's insistence on short takes and the RPO's technical level at the time that was not at its peak. Dorati only shows a few glimpses of what made his LSO Beethoven recordings so good but these do not bear comparison with those. However, it's not all bad and there are very good performances of the 2nd (great finale) and 4th symphonies but this level of perfomance is not maintained. Here and there there are interesting artistic flourishes - the timpani rolls at the start of the 8th and Dorati's enjoyable embellishments in the finale of the 7th spring to mind - but the rest of the set is uneven. The 5th may be the best performance here and Dorati and the RPO pull it off well but a pallid 6th, dull 9th, limp Eroica, average 1st and heavy-handed 8th spoil the set. It's not as bad as all that but listen to his LSO 7th and then this 7th and you'll hear a lack of urgency, some scrappy intonation, badly mixed woodwinds and string-heaviness across the piece. Incidentally this cycle is now officially listed as 'lost' but may still be knocking around somewhere (last reports are that it could be in Hannover) but does anyone care? Obviously not enough to find them!
Grade - C
Haselbock / Wiener Akademie
![]()
On initial inspection Haselbock's vision of playing the Beethoven symphonies in the "theatres and concert halls of their premieres, performed on the instruments from the time of their origin" may seem a bit pretentious but these performances are far from it. Performing with smaller forces, in smaller venues with reverberant acoustics may have also have given the recording engineers kittens too but largely the sound on these discs is excellent. The performances are similarly impressive too. The recordings of the 1st and 2nd symphonies are an absolute joy, the 4th is another superb performance with a thrilling finale and the 7th is a triumph with a knockout first movement, , beautiful 2nd movement, relaxed presto and finale that is brisk and ultimately thrilling. Please don't get the impression that Haselbock is a speed merchant either. He conducts a deliberate and relaxed 6th with a great storm in which the woodwinds are a delight and a broad Eroica that is well-conceived but lacks Savall and Weil's drive. The 8th is good but the best here is a wonderful 5th that is thoroughly refreshing and may be one of the finest I've heard in a long time.The only performance that doesn't convince me here is the 9th, which I find to be a tad cumbersome, blended and lacks drive in the first two movements. It does end in a blaze of fury, with the choir caught very well, but it's not enough to rescue it for me. Make no bones about it, these are impressive performances and an excellent set with interesting fillers galore. Recommended enthusiastically.
Grade A-
Suitner / Staatskapelle Berlin
![]()
Suitner's Berlin cycle on Denon was one of the first to be recorded in the digital age and one I had to revisit after not listening to it in many years. Suitner was a decent conductor (listen to his Dvorak cycle for evidence of his skill) and this set only confirms that. This time I'll start with the negatives. The 4th is a chuggy, mid-tempo affair that is far too serious, the 5th only really gets going in the finale, the 8th is forceful when needed but lacks some joy and the 7th is a mixed bag (starting off promisingly before petering out a little. Elsewhere it's all good stuff. The Pastoral is a mid-paced very Bohm-ish reading that is gloriously realised and played and wouldn't sound amiss in Karajan's 63 cycle.THe 2nd symphony gets a great performance and Suitner's players really bring out the joy in the score. The 1st is lively and alert and the Eroica gets better as it goes along (the scherzo is delightful). However, THE performance here is the 9th. Never heard it? Do yourself a favour and pick it up! This is a powerhouse performance, karajan-esque in realisation and brilliantly played and recorded. Yes, it really is that good. Listen how Suitner makes that 2nd movement bounce at a surprisingly brisk pace and you'll hear what I mean, The adagio is lilting and beautiful and the whole account is taken a step up by a finale that has very good singing, fiery passion, depth and grunt in spades. This one really is one of the best in the catalogue! Suitner is defintely at his best in the quicker movements and really comes to life as the speeds increase across the set.
Grade - B+
Tilson Thomas / English Chamber Orchestra
![]()
This recently re-released set from Sony (Tilson Thomas conducts Beethoven) is a strange one. Recorded in the mid-80s it came and went without much fuss and that's partly because it's not a wholly succesful set. It's not a bad one, it's just not substantial enough! Tilson Thomas' decision to record with a chamber orchestra was a brave one at the time and he could possibly have pulled it off he'd put his foot on the gas a bit more. Like another Sony set (Giulini) this one is just too damned graceful at times. There's some lovely playing, sweet textures and inner detail in the 4th, a dainty HIP-ish but dull 6th and a lovely 7th that has some nice touches but ends in a robotic finale that is far too slow to carry any forward momentum. THe 1st and 2nd are pleasant but a little too chamber-like to keep your interest and the 5th is very boring indeed. Surprisingly, for such small forces, the 9th comes off as one of the best performances here. Like his San Francisco 9th it starts slowly but improves immeasurably towards the end and the finale is well-sung and well-sprung. I also rate the Eroica from this set highly as it's got way more heft than the rest of the set, is more briskly paced and has an urgency that many of these performances lack. I would urge you to listen to his far superior recordings in San Francisco (2nd, 5th, 7th and 9th) for much better LvB performances. The 7th and 9th from that part cycle are particularly impressive and really show what he can do with more substantial forces and a fleeter foot. As for this set, I'd say steer clear.
Grade - C
Chung / Tokyo PO
![]()
Another rare one (and one I've had for many years but rarely listened to). Myung Whun-Chung's live Tokyo cycle is a very surprising one. Speeds are generally brisk and some performances here are truly excellent. The 5th rightly brings the house down (in front of an enthusiastic audience) because it's powerful, sprightly, intense and brilliantly executed and is one I'll be revisiting again in the near future. Things go just as well in a bouyant and highly-charged 7th, decent 8th, enjoyable 4th and, particularly, a thoroughly engaging Eroica. Both the early symphonies are well-performed too. The account of the 6th may be more contentious as it's certainly not be for those that like a delicate amble through the countryside but I rather liked Chung's hob-nail boots stomp through the first movement and he gives the whole symphony a radical make-over with bold playing and a storm with umph. As I said, not everyone will like that but I do. It all sounds too good to be true? Well, sadly, their is one elephant in the room that needs addressing - the 9th! I've said it before about the 'Japanese way' of playing the 9th - as always slow, ponderous, wayyy too serious and never with the fleetness of even someone like Suitner (especially in the 2nd movement) this account drags. Please, please, please can just ONE Japanese orchestra play the 9th without all the bombast, turgid speeds and exactly the same way? Not only that but it was as though the guy who recorded the other 8 symphonies (and did an excellent job, btw) suddenly went on holiday and left it to someone without a single clue. This recording of the 9th is excessively bassy, bloated and frankly bloody awful. Don't let me put you off though because this is a very, very good set only soiled by that disastrous 9th. My advice is to get this set (if you ever see it for far less than the silly prices on the internet) throw that 9th disc in the bin and instead replace it with Chung's terrific Seoul live PO 9th. With that change this set would frankly be in the very top tier then.
Grade - B+ / A-
So another set of cycles reviewed and as always please feel free to add your own thoughts. A few of these surprised me as I hadn't listened to them in some time. What do you think?
Older reviews are linked below.....
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycles Pt13
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt12
Merl's Beethoven Syphony Cycle Reviews Pt11
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt10
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt9
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt8
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt7
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt6
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt5
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt4
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt3
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Review Pt2
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt1
Rating are as always:
C Satisfactory cycle. Ok, but nothing to shout about
B- Good cycle but flawed (see decriptions in thread).
B Good standard. A decent library set or better.
B+ Very good set. Some very impressive performances. Well worth investing in.
A- Excellent set just missing a little something to take it to the top of the pile but all performances very good or better.
A* Wow! Currently the cream of the crop out there in LvB Cycleland. Buy, borrow or listen, now!
Dorati / RPO
I'll start this survey with the rarest cycle here (and one of the rarest around). In the mid 70s Dorait laid down this cycle for Mercury. It's never made it to CD (apart from one savvy punter who ripped these direct from LP and released them in a short run in Japan - and that's where I got my LP rip from). The set itself is rather disjointed, cuased by Dorati's insistence on short takes and the RPO's technical level at the time that was not at its peak. Dorati only shows a few glimpses of what made his LSO Beethoven recordings so good but these do not bear comparison with those. However, it's not all bad and there are very good performances of the 2nd (great finale) and 4th symphonies but this level of perfomance is not maintained. Here and there there are interesting artistic flourishes - the timpani rolls at the start of the 8th and Dorati's enjoyable embellishments in the finale of the 7th spring to mind - but the rest of the set is uneven. The 5th may be the best performance here and Dorati and the RPO pull it off well but a pallid 6th, dull 9th, limp Eroica, average 1st and heavy-handed 8th spoil the set. It's not as bad as all that but listen to his LSO 7th and then this 7th and you'll hear a lack of urgency, some scrappy intonation, badly mixed woodwinds and string-heaviness across the piece. Incidentally this cycle is now officially listed as 'lost' but may still be knocking around somewhere (last reports are that it could be in Hannover) but does anyone care? Obviously not enough to find them!
Grade - C
Haselbock / Wiener Akademie
On initial inspection Haselbock's vision of playing the Beethoven symphonies in the "theatres and concert halls of their premieres, performed on the instruments from the time of their origin" may seem a bit pretentious but these performances are far from it. Performing with smaller forces, in smaller venues with reverberant acoustics may have also have given the recording engineers kittens too but largely the sound on these discs is excellent. The performances are similarly impressive too. The recordings of the 1st and 2nd symphonies are an absolute joy, the 4th is another superb performance with a thrilling finale and the 7th is a triumph with a knockout first movement, , beautiful 2nd movement, relaxed presto and finale that is brisk and ultimately thrilling. Please don't get the impression that Haselbock is a speed merchant either. He conducts a deliberate and relaxed 6th with a great storm in which the woodwinds are a delight and a broad Eroica that is well-conceived but lacks Savall and Weil's drive. The 8th is good but the best here is a wonderful 5th that is thoroughly refreshing and may be one of the finest I've heard in a long time.The only performance that doesn't convince me here is the 9th, which I find to be a tad cumbersome, blended and lacks drive in the first two movements. It does end in a blaze of fury, with the choir caught very well, but it's not enough to rescue it for me. Make no bones about it, these are impressive performances and an excellent set with interesting fillers galore. Recommended enthusiastically.
Grade A-
Suitner / Staatskapelle Berlin
Suitner's Berlin cycle on Denon was one of the first to be recorded in the digital age and one I had to revisit after not listening to it in many years. Suitner was a decent conductor (listen to his Dvorak cycle for evidence of his skill) and this set only confirms that. This time I'll start with the negatives. The 4th is a chuggy, mid-tempo affair that is far too serious, the 5th only really gets going in the finale, the 8th is forceful when needed but lacks some joy and the 7th is a mixed bag (starting off promisingly before petering out a little. Elsewhere it's all good stuff. The Pastoral is a mid-paced very Bohm-ish reading that is gloriously realised and played and wouldn't sound amiss in Karajan's 63 cycle.THe 2nd symphony gets a great performance and Suitner's players really bring out the joy in the score. The 1st is lively and alert and the Eroica gets better as it goes along (the scherzo is delightful). However, THE performance here is the 9th. Never heard it? Do yourself a favour and pick it up! This is a powerhouse performance, karajan-esque in realisation and brilliantly played and recorded. Yes, it really is that good. Listen how Suitner makes that 2nd movement bounce at a surprisingly brisk pace and you'll hear what I mean, The adagio is lilting and beautiful and the whole account is taken a step up by a finale that has very good singing, fiery passion, depth and grunt in spades. This one really is one of the best in the catalogue! Suitner is defintely at his best in the quicker movements and really comes to life as the speeds increase across the set.
Grade - B+
Tilson Thomas / English Chamber Orchestra
This recently re-released set from Sony (Tilson Thomas conducts Beethoven) is a strange one. Recorded in the mid-80s it came and went without much fuss and that's partly because it's not a wholly succesful set. It's not a bad one, it's just not substantial enough! Tilson Thomas' decision to record with a chamber orchestra was a brave one at the time and he could possibly have pulled it off he'd put his foot on the gas a bit more. Like another Sony set (Giulini) this one is just too damned graceful at times. There's some lovely playing, sweet textures and inner detail in the 4th, a dainty HIP-ish but dull 6th and a lovely 7th that has some nice touches but ends in a robotic finale that is far too slow to carry any forward momentum. THe 1st and 2nd are pleasant but a little too chamber-like to keep your interest and the 5th is very boring indeed. Surprisingly, for such small forces, the 9th comes off as one of the best performances here. Like his San Francisco 9th it starts slowly but improves immeasurably towards the end and the finale is well-sung and well-sprung. I also rate the Eroica from this set highly as it's got way more heft than the rest of the set, is more briskly paced and has an urgency that many of these performances lack. I would urge you to listen to his far superior recordings in San Francisco (2nd, 5th, 7th and 9th) for much better LvB performances. The 7th and 9th from that part cycle are particularly impressive and really show what he can do with more substantial forces and a fleeter foot. As for this set, I'd say steer clear.
Grade - C
Chung / Tokyo PO
Another rare one (and one I've had for many years but rarely listened to). Myung Whun-Chung's live Tokyo cycle is a very surprising one. Speeds are generally brisk and some performances here are truly excellent. The 5th rightly brings the house down (in front of an enthusiastic audience) because it's powerful, sprightly, intense and brilliantly executed and is one I'll be revisiting again in the near future. Things go just as well in a bouyant and highly-charged 7th, decent 8th, enjoyable 4th and, particularly, a thoroughly engaging Eroica. Both the early symphonies are well-performed too. The account of the 6th may be more contentious as it's certainly not be for those that like a delicate amble through the countryside but I rather liked Chung's hob-nail boots stomp through the first movement and he gives the whole symphony a radical make-over with bold playing and a storm with umph. As I said, not everyone will like that but I do. It all sounds too good to be true? Well, sadly, their is one elephant in the room that needs addressing - the 9th! I've said it before about the 'Japanese way' of playing the 9th - as always slow, ponderous, wayyy too serious and never with the fleetness of even someone like Suitner (especially in the 2nd movement) this account drags. Please, please, please can just ONE Japanese orchestra play the 9th without all the bombast, turgid speeds and exactly the same way? Not only that but it was as though the guy who recorded the other 8 symphonies (and did an excellent job, btw) suddenly went on holiday and left it to someone without a single clue. This recording of the 9th is excessively bassy, bloated and frankly bloody awful. Don't let me put you off though because this is a very, very good set only soiled by that disastrous 9th. My advice is to get this set (if you ever see it for far less than the silly prices on the internet) throw that 9th disc in the bin and instead replace it with Chung's terrific Seoul live PO 9th. With that change this set would frankly be in the very top tier then.
Grade - B+ / A-
So another set of cycles reviewed and as always please feel free to add your own thoughts. A few of these surprised me as I hadn't listened to them in some time. What do you think?
Older reviews are linked below.....
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycles Pt13
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt12
Merl's Beethoven Syphony Cycle Reviews Pt11
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt10
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt9
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt8
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt7
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt6
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt5
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt4
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt3
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Review Pt2
Merl's Beethoven Symphony Cycle Reviews Pt1
The saddest thing about the Dorati RPO set is it could have been so much better. Lets face it, he inspired a fairly shabby LSO to great accounts of the 5th, 6th and 7th symphonies. Maybe he just couldnt get the same enthusiasm with the RPO. Who knows? One theory was that the set was a contractual obligation so his heart wasnt in it.
