BaL 1.03.14 - Beethoven Symphony no. 7 in A

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 a.m. 1st March 2014: Building a Library
John Deathridge with a personal recommendation from recordings of Beethoven's powerful and life-affirming 7th Symphony.

Available versions:-

BPO, Claudio Abbado
BPO, Claudio Abbado (DVD/Blu-ray)
VPO, Claudio Abbado (2 versions)
Tonhalle SO Zurich, Otto Ackermann
Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy
Suisse Romande Orchestra, Ernest Ansermet
George Ensecu PO, Sir John Barbirolli
Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim
East-West Divan Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim
East-West Divan Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim (DVD)
RPO, Sir Thomas Beecham (2 versions)
Phiharmonia Orchestra, Eduard van Beinum
ASMF, Joshua Bell
Boston SO, Leonard Bernstein
New York PO, Leonard Bernstein
VPO, Leonard Bernstein (CD/DVD)
Vienna RSO, Bertrand de Billy
Staatskapelle Dresden, Herbert Blonstedt
Bavarian RSO, Karl Bohm
BPO, Karl Bohm (download)
CBC Festival Orchestra, Karl Bohm (DVD)
VPO, Karl Bohm (2 versions)
VSO, Karl Bohm (DVD)
Manchester Camarata, Douglas Boyd
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Dirk Bross (download)
Orchestra of the 18th Century, Frans Bruggen
LSO, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos (download)
LSO, Yondani Butt
NYPO, Guido Cantelli
Philharmonia Orchestra, Guido Cantelli
Munich PO, Sergio Celidibache
RAI SO, Sergio Celidibache
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly
BPO, Andre Cluytens
Swedish CO, Thomas Dausgaard
Staatskapelle Dresden, Sir Colin Davis (download)
RPO, Sir Colin Davis
Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnanyi
LSO, Antal Dorati
Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia, Bela Drahos
Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, Gustavo Dudamel
Dutch National Ballet (DVD)
Zagreb PO, Richard Edlinger (download)
Hungarian National PO, Janos Ferencsik (download)
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer
Westphalia New Philharmonic Orchestra, Heiko-Mathias Foster
RIAS SO Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay
BPO, Wilhelm Furtwangler
Stockholm PO, Wilhelm Furtwangler (download)
VPO, Wilhelm Furtwangler (multiple versions)
Orchestra Revolutionnaire et Romantique, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra, Ruben Gazarian
SWR SO Michael Gielen (DVD)
Chicago SO, Carlo Maria Giulini
Lamont SO, Lawrence Golan (download)
Hannover Band, Roy Goodman
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
LPO, Bernard Haitink
LSO, Bernard Haitink
COE, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Royal Flemish PO, Philippe Herreweghe
Northern Sinfonia of England, Richard Hickox
Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
National Radio Orchestra, Jasha Horenstein
Anima Eterna Orchestra, Jos van Immerseel
Danish National RSO, Frederik IX
Bavarian RSO, Mariss Jansons
Bavarian RSO, Mariss Jansons (DVD/Blu-ray)
Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Paavo Jarvi (DVD)
Bavarian RSO, Eugen Jochum (download)
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Egen Jochum (download)
LSO, Eugen Jochum
OAE, Vladimir Jurowski (DVD/Blu-ray)
BPO, Herbert von Karajan (3 versions + DVD)
Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Staatskapelle Berlin, Herbert von Karajan
VPO, Herbert von Karajan (2 versions)
Bavarian RSO, Joseph Keilberth
Munich PO, Rudolf Kempe
Turin SO, Rodolf Kempe
Slovak PO, Noriaki Kitamura (download)
Bavarian State Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber (DVD)
VPO, Carlos Kleiber
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Erich Kleiber
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
NDR SO, Otto Klemperer
Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer (3 versions)
Suisse Romande Orchestra, Otto Klemperer (download)
VSO, Otto Klemperer
Czech PO, Paul Kletzki
Hans Knappertsbusch
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Konwitschny
La Chambre Philharmonique, Emmanuel Krivine
VPO, Rafael Kubelik
Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, Gustav Kuhn
De Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrchet, Johannes Leertower
RPO, Rene Leibowitz (download)
Boston SO, Erich Leinsdorf
NKH SO Ferdinand Leinter
Munich PO, James Levine
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Edouard Lindenberg
Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Peter Maag
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan
RLPO, Sir Charles Mackerras
Scottish CO, Sir Charles Mackerras
Israel PO, Kurt Masur
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Kurt Masur
LAPO, Zubin Mehta
Concertgebouw Orchestra, William Mengleberg
Sinfonia Vasovia, Yehudi Menuhin
French National Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
NYPO, Pierre Monteux
LSO, Wyn Morris
Leningrad PO, Evgeny Mravinsky
Cologne SO, Helmut Muller-Bruhl (download)
Boston SO, Charles Munch
French National Radio Orchestra, Charles Munch (download)
Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti
Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, John Nelson
London Classical Players, Sir Roger Norrington
Stuttgart RSO, Sir Roger Norrington
Budapest PO, Stephen Pomerantz
Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev
Polish Chamber PO, Wojciech Rajski
BPO, Sir Simon Rattle (DVD)
VPO, Sir Simon Rattle
Chicago SO, Fritz Reiner
London Symphony Orchestra, Edouard van Remoortel (download)
Los Angeles PO, Esa-Pekka Salonen (download)
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Hermann Scherchen
VPO, Nands Schmidt-Isserstedt (download)
BPO, Carl Schuricht
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Carl Schuricht
Stuttgart RSO, Carl Schuricht
VPO Carl Schuricht
Dresden Staatskapelle, Giuseppe Sinopoli (DVD)
Saarbrucken Radio SO, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Chicago SO, Georg Solti
CSO (or VPO?), Georg Solti (DVD)
LSO, Sir Georg Solti (DVD)
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Ignat Solzhenitsyn (download)
NHK SO, Horst Stein
Boston SO, William Steinberg (DVD)
BBC SO, Leopold Stokowski (download)
Orchestra Internazionale Giovanile (St. Moritz), Leopold Stokowski
Symphony of the Air, Leopold Stokowski
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Richard Strauss
Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell
VPO Christian Thielemann (CD/DVD/Blu-ray)
San Francisco SO, Michael Tilson Thomas
BBC SO, Arturo Toscanini
NBC SO, Arturo Toscanini
NY Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Orchestre de la Francophonie, Jean-Phillipe Tremblay
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vanska
Saint Louis SO, Hans Vonk
Netherlands SO, Jan Willem de Vriend
Columbia SO, Bruno Walter
NYPO, Bruno Walter
Gurzenich-Orchester-Koln, Gunter Wand
NDR SO, Gunter Wand
Tafelmusik Orchestra, Bruno Weil
VPO, Felix Weingartner
Tapei SO, Johannes Wildner
RPO, Barry Wordsworth
Philharmonia Orchestra, Benjamin Zander
Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, David Zinman
Dallas SO, Jaap van Zweden


Piano solo (arr. Liszt):
Idil Biret
Leslie Howard
Yury Martynov
Konstantin Scherbakov
Ronald Smith


Wind Octet:
Blasesensemble
Ensemble Octophorus
Netherlands Wind Ensemble
Oslo Kammerakademi
Les Vents de Montreal

[verismissimo]

Yikes!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

That's what I thought too.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

You've missed out ...

Seriously dedicated listing, Alpie - I envy neither you nor Mr Deathridge. To choose just one version?! Cruel and unnatural.

[visualnickmos]

This has to be the longest listing to date, Alpen? BRAVO!

This has the potential for a great BaL.....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

You've missed out ...

I know of a few I need to research, but I've been losing the will to live with this list.

[Thropplenoggin]

My eyes lit up when I saw this on the forthcoming schedule. I thought of the Herculanean task ahead for EA. It would be the same with the Eroica. If I were doing this BaL, I'd make my life easier thus, by selecting a couple from the following categories:

1. Historical (Weingartner, etc.)
2. Modern instruments, classic account (mono or stereo) / Klemperer/Walter, etc.
3. HIPP
4. Modern instruments, digital sound (Vanska, Haitink, etc.)

Each one could be either studio or live. Then providing one choice for each category, then picking my overall library choice. Still, it's becoming an almost ludicrous task.

--

Predictions: Kleiber/VPO (DG) will be up there. Vanska/MSO? Haitink/LPO? I'd love to see a leftfield choice get it: Konwitschny/Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. "Vaulting and bounding majesty, but without bombast, boldly thrusting forward, golden tone, steady tempo, and omni-dimensional recording," says MusicWebInt'l. It's a truly wonderful account.

[umslopogaas]

Five on my shelves but not on EA's list - presumably because they are not currently available - are (all LPs):

Bohm/BPO (DG SLPM 138 018)
Erich Kleiber/Concertgebouw Amsterdam (Decca LXT 2547 mono)
Konwitschny/Gewandhaus Orch. Leipzig (Fontana SCFL 113)
van Remoortel/LSO (Vox PL 10,970 mono)
Solti/VPO (Decca SXL 2121)

What an impossible task for a reviewer. I imagine he will start by immediately dismissing at least three quarters of them unplayed on the programme so that he can concentrate on a vaguely feasible short list.

[pastoralguy]

What an impossible task for a reviewer. I imagine he will start by immediately dismissing at least three quarters of them unplayed on the programme so that he can concentrate on a vaguely feasible short list.

Just reading out Alpie's amazing list would probably take 10 minutes...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Five on my shelves but not on EA's list - presumably because they are not currently available - are (all LPs):

Bohm/BPO (DG SLPM 138 018)
Erich Kleiber/Concertgebouw Amsterdam (Decca LXT 2547 mono)
Konwitschny/Gewandhaus Orch. Leipzig (Fontana SCFL 113)
van Remoortel/LSO (Vox PL 10,970 mono)
Solti/VPO (Decca SXL 2121)

All of these (apart from the VPO Solti) appear to be available as downloads, so I've added them to the list. Actually the Konwitschny was there initially, but after some editing, only the orchestra remained.

But thanks for the nudge.

[silvestrione]

What remotely possible justification is there for doing No. 7 again, when the Eroica has never been done in modern times? I cannot believe it. I would like to hear their reasoning. As I said once before on these boards, I had correspondence on the subject with a CD Review representative, some years ago now, in which he accepted the Eroica was a work that urgently needed addressing. But still we get repetition!

I shall enjoy this programme nevertheless. I remember two earlier ones: C Kleiber was the winner last time, and, years ago, Toscanini was chosen (used fairly openly as a model with which to point out the flaws in everything else! Wouldn't happen these days). Now, of course, we have two versions by C Kleiber, one live.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Surely we have three:-

Bavarian State Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber (DVD)
VPO, Carlos Kleiber

[Thropplenoggin]

What remotely possible justification is there for doing No. 7 again, when the Eroica has never been done in modern times?

Agreed. I would write to AMcG but have yet to have a single response to a missive I've sent. Because he took umbrage to my suggestion that he vary his (generally gushing) encomia to something other than 'a lovely sense of line'.

[verismissimo]

Surely we have three:-

Bavarian State Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber (DVD)
VPO, Carlos Kleiber

I don't have those three but I do have two of the three Toscanini recordings in Alpie's list:

BBC SO, Arturo Toscanini (1935)
NY Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini (1936)

which I shall enjoy revisiting this coming week.

[amateur51]

Is he getting the full hour or is Mr Deatheridge expected to risk rupture of the tonsils in trying to get this task completed in 40 minutes?

I'd love to hear DON reviewing & choosing a piano version