Your Last Beethoven Record

[Alison]

Update: The 1980s Eroica is absolutely stunning. Worth the (very modest) cost of the set on its own

I recall Ferney having a similar view on the Pastoral from that set.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I recall Ferney having a similar view on the Pastoral from that set.

- recorded sound quality isn't great, but that Pastoral, is, I think, Karajan's best ... certainly with the BPO. Given the other recordings he made, that may not seem the most enthusiastic of recommendations, but actually, on its own terms, it is one of my favourite recordings of the work.

The Eighth is superb, too - powerful and urgent (the recorded sound making it sound fierce and aggressive at times) in the Toscanini manner, rather than genial and mischievous as is usually my preferred way in this work: but I love it when a performance challenges my prejudices in this sort of way.