BaL 14.10.23 - Beethoven: Symphony no. 8 in F Op.93

[gradus]

Krips/LSO is a great combination in this piece, elegant and sprightly.

[Barbirollians]

The early 1960s Karajan is pretty special - as are Krivine and in a very different way Bruno Walter’s late recording.

[smittims]

I think Abbado/BPO (the Italian Job) is a safe bet. Whoever wins, it will be a good episode as the presenter is, unlike some we've heard, an erudite man. I haven't listened to BaL for years, having 'built' at leats two libraries, on LP and CD, but I might listen to this one for its own sake .

[cloughie]

Obviously not on CD or probably anywhere else for that matter other than on cassette (probably now unplayable) but there was an excellent LSO cycle with LSO Abbado broadcast during his tenure in the 1980s.

[Bryn]

Obviously not on CD or probably anywhere else for that matter other than on cassette (probably now unplayable) but there was an excellent LSO cycle with LSO Abbado broadcast during his tenure in the 1980s.

Indeed there was. I have the series on Dolby B Cassettes from Radio 3 FM.

[gurnemanz]

I've listened to three recordings over the last few days: Norrington, London Classical Players (1987), Toscanini, NBCSO (1952), and most recently acquired Karel Ančerl, Czech Phil (1960).

I greatly enjoyed them all. All would be favourites, with the exhilarating Toscanini as the top pick of those three.

The Ančerl came via a new Supraphon live collection issued earlier this year. https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...ive-recordings. A vivid and elegant Eighth with the added excitement a live performance.

On that Presto page there is a link to a podcast on which Rob Cowan and others enthuse about these recordings.

[richardfinegold]

Like others here I have numerous recordings, most acquired as part of complete cycles, and I can’t remember hearing one that I disliked. Szell/Cleveland was my first and if for no other reason would be the first I would reach for (tremendous flair in the metronome movement). I recently heard the Klemperer as part of that big box and it sound’s comparatively stodgy

[silvestrione]

For once I didn't much like the Rattle/BPO version (this is a cycle I am very fond of, especially no 3 and 9). At that speed the lyrical woodwind in the 1st were not very expressive or characterful, and even the opening flourish was, for me, not articulated enough, Elsewhere, to my ears, the balance was losing important detail.

Furtwangler shows him how to do it, in his live version with the Stockholm Philharmonic. Thrilling and immediate, but lyrical as well; delicate in the second movement, almost balletic; fast and exciting, but exploratory and creative in the last movement, especially in the great coda (what a lot Brahms took from this movement, and also from the scoring of the coda of the first!)

The Rattle third movement is the only one where I preferred the modern performance, marginally.

[CallMePaul]

I have Norrington/ LCP and Mackerras/ SCO, both as part of complete sets. This symphony, in my opinion, benefits more than most from a HPPI-influenced approach, but many reviewers seem to regard this as specialist. I have to agree that few people would buy a recording specifically for this symphony, however (I didn't).

[Bryn]

I have Norrington/ LCP and Mackerras/ SCO, both as part of complete sets. This symphony, in my opinion, benefits more than most from a HPPI-influenced approach, but many reviewers seem to regard this as specialist. I have to agree that few people would buy a recording specifically for this symphony, however (I didn't).

I do recall being very taken with the Unicorn LP of the 1st and 8th Symphonies with the Little Orchestra of London conducted by Leslie Jones, which I purchased mainly for the 8th, back in 1969. Sadly, it went in a house fire, back in the 1980s and has not, as far as I know, been reissued on CD or as a download.

[pastoralguy]

I’ve always thought that the second symphony was the Cinderella of the nine but the more I read this thread the more it seems the eighth is the under appreciated.

[Pulcinella]

I’ve always thought that the second symphony was the Cinderella of the nine but the more I read this thread the more it seems the eighth is the under appreciated.

Not in Casa Pulcinellla.
Numbers 7 and 8 are the only ones I give real house room to (though I have a couple of full sets: Karajan 1963 and Mackerras/RLPO).

I see that I bought a study score of 8 in October 1973 (it cost all of 70p), the earliest of the four I have (5 and 6 in March 1975, and 7 in July 1977); it's almost its golden jubilee!

[silvestrione]

Terrific performance by Kirill Petrenko and a scaled down BPO, on the Digital Concert Hall. Precision, wit, vitality. The players obviously enjoying themselves!

And some new faces in the Berlin Philharmonic: the Leaders I did not recognise, and the tympanist! Must surely have also played a drum kit in a rock band...A youngster with startlingly expressive stick technique, long flourishes or dazzling speedy hand-crossing!

[Darloboy]

As far as I can tell, this is the first time that BaL has dedicated a programme to this symphony since February 1968

[richardfinegold]

At random, I pulled the Blomstedt/Dresden recording yesterday. I have to say that while I generally enjoy the recordings from this set of musicians this was a disappointment. The interpretation is rather faceless, and the recording is somewhat constricted, with the timpani whacks sounding mushy. It shares a disc with the Seventh which sounds more natural with more involvement.