I was watching this delightfully quaint and rather moving old documentary on Beethoven here. Be warned - this link is a portal down which an hour of your life will merrily sink, as you wonder at how the music is allowed to speak for itself; smile at the charming old chaps pretending to be caught in media res conversationally; nod approvingly at the marriage of image and sound, and chuckle at the image quality; cringe as Schindler is taken at his word, etc.
Anyway, it provides a wonderful overview of that immense human life and the music produced therein, as well as, perhaps, some new tidbits of info (I didn't know about that funeral oration, for example). I also came across Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for the first time, and am now listening to this lovely modern rendition:
It got me thinking about Beethoven's first two symphonies, which I've returned to again and again this year. I don't find them dull at all but really revelatory, where the bud of all that was to blossom later is quite apparent at times. Joyful, powerful music and glimpses of that monumentality and cosmic element that would follow.
I only have two versions: Harnoncourt, which I have grown to dislike and never put on, especially since acquiring Franz Konwitschny's Beethoven cycle with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. I'm also a big fan of Furtwangler, though don't have him in Beethoven 1 or 2.
Disappointingly, this hasn't been covered in BAL - but, then, I can't see an Eroica recommendation, either. (Harumph!)
I tend to favour that golden era of Fifties and Sixties Beethoven from what little I've heard online and might invest in another cycle, or just the first two symphonies. Any recommendations for something monumental, transcendent, cosmic? Furious, yes, but not Gardiner fast, please. For example, I've heard Jochum called "Furtwängler-esque". If all three Jochum's cycles became available again, which has these qualities?
I look forward to reading your suggestions.
Anyway, it provides a wonderful overview of that immense human life and the music produced therein, as well as, perhaps, some new tidbits of info (I didn't know about that funeral oration, for example). I also came across Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for the first time, and am now listening to this lovely modern rendition:
It got me thinking about Beethoven's first two symphonies, which I've returned to again and again this year. I don't find them dull at all but really revelatory, where the bud of all that was to blossom later is quite apparent at times. Joyful, powerful music and glimpses of that monumentality and cosmic element that would follow.
I only have two versions: Harnoncourt, which I have grown to dislike and never put on, especially since acquiring Franz Konwitschny's Beethoven cycle with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. I'm also a big fan of Furtwangler, though don't have him in Beethoven 1 or 2.
Disappointingly, this hasn't been covered in BAL - but, then, I can't see an Eroica recommendation, either. (Harumph!)
I tend to favour that golden era of Fifties and Sixties Beethoven from what little I've heard online and might invest in another cycle, or just the first two symphonies. Any recommendations for something monumental, transcendent, cosmic? Furious, yes, but not Gardiner fast, please. For example, I've heard Jochum called "Furtwängler-esque". If all three Jochum's cycles became available again, which has these qualities?
I look forward to reading your suggestions.
s enough to express how much I agree with these recommendations (and with the "even more so"!). I share your reservations 
about Harnoncourt and Gardiner; these work better as part of their respective cycles than as individual performances of the two symphonies themselves. Everybody has made a lot of excellent recommendations and so far nobody has mentioned any recordings about which I would say "Avoid that at all costs" - some very good recordings all round of these superb, joyous, impudent masterworks.
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