[Becca]

In addition to the full, stereo Beethoven symphony cycle, there is also a mono (*) 3rd, 5th & 7th which were done some years before the full cycle and which are not as slow as the stereo recordings and, IMO, are much better.

* While they were all originally released in mono only, there is a stereo master of the 7th which was used for the CD releases.

 

[Becca]

I'm not a huge Klemperer fan, tho his Brahms German Requiem is very good. He generally gets a good sound from the orchestra, lots of wind/brass sonority, and the Philharmonia Orch plays very well for him....too often, tho, it is just too slow and ponderous....esp evident in requisite fast tempos, like Beethoven scherzos. There is a minimum speed for these pieces, any slower and they just don't work. The scherzo "giacoso" quality requires staccato, separate notes to maintain character. At too slow a tempo, there is simply too much time, space between notes. If one lengthens the notes to fill the space, the essential quality is lost.
I have to wonder if OK's slow tempi, in his later recordings, might be directly attributable to the various physical afflictions he suffered?? Perhaps he simply couldn't move any faster??

You only have to go back to his 1955 Beethoven symphonies to see that the 1960 cycle represented a marked slow down from what he had done. I think that his physical issues and age had a lot to do with it.

Note to self: I should try listening to some of the 1930s Los Angeles Philharmonic and very early 1950's Concertgebow.

 

[Becca]

The issue of splitting the violins, which Klemperer did along with the majority of conductors of his era, may not be as common now, but some do it. Blomstedt always, Rattle does depending on the particular work.

 

[Becca]

I have just been listening to some interesting performances of Shostakovich's Symphony #9, Janacek's Sinfonietta and Stravinsky's Pulcinella ... all from actual Klemperer concerts in the 1950s! And, it should be noted, very good, un-slow performances too! The moral of the story is to not pigeon-hole him from some of his slow recordings from his last decade.

 

[Becca]

Clever trick or not, the Klemperer LvB cycle sounds miles better on the Pristine remakes. At times the originals were muddy, to my ears, which spoiled the grandeur of Klemperer's accounts. I've not listened to all of them yet (just 1-4 and 7) but the bass and treble sound much better and the whole aural picture is much clearer. Don't get me wrong, I'm still not the biggest fan of Klemperer's slower visions but the 4th sounds way better and I like it. The 7th sounds better but its still far too slow for me and doesn't build up a head of steam, IMO. I'll listen to the others later. I'll be honest, I never used to be fond of many Klemperer recordings but I've warmed to his solidity over the years. I still don't like his Brahms cycle much though (apart from a lovely 3rd). Otherwise I'm looking to reacquaint myself with many of his recordings. Like him or not, he always had something interesting to say in his recordings.

As I noted earlier, try listening to the 1955 recordings of the 3rd, 5th & 7th

 

[Becca]

noun: sarabande

a slow, stately Spanish dance in triple time.

 

[Becca]

^^ Don't bother, it's not worth it.