Search - Beethoven, Fassbaender, Gedda :: 9 Symphonies

Underrated Beethoven by a Master Conductor

T. Beers | Arlington, Virginia United States | 02/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The late Rudolf Kempe never had much of a reputation in the United States, although his EMI recordings of Wagner's "Lohengrin" and Richard Strauss's orchestral works have long been regarded on both sides of the Atlantic as near definitive. Clarity of texture and a firm sense of rhythm are the hallmarks of Kempe's podium style. This cycle of the Beethoven symphonies was recorded by EMI shortly before the conductor's death in 1976 and represents Kempe's finest work with the Munich Philharmonic whose music director he was for the last ten years of his life. The Munich Philharmonic is not the world's greatest orchestra now and wasn't in Kempe's day either, but Kempe has them playing with great passion and brilliance. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of these performances is their almost perfect balance of string and wind textures; for once in traditional orchestral performances of Beethoven, the all-important wind band (Harmonie) is given appropriate prominence. Not even the great George Szell manages this all-important balance as well in his near flawless Cleveland cycle on Sony. Very good (analog) sound; a definite improvement over EMI's quadraphonic Lps in the original (U.S.) Seraphim label release. If you love Beethoven for the noise, buy any one of a dozen or so mediocre digital cycles; if you love music, buy Kempe!"

Excellent!

Wayne A. | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 05/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's a real pity this set is out of print. This is one very solid set of Beethoven symphonies and I find that when I want to drag them out for a hearing and I don't want to be overly challenged by eccentricities, hyperbole, academic analysis, over-the-top demonstration sound, or permutations of period performances this is the set I always reach for. Sometimes I like to listen to Beethoven and not feel a need to keep either a fire extinguisher or a bottle of tranquilizers nearby.



Kempe uses good judgement throughout, he brings out a lot of inner detail but not at the risk of losing the general sound, and the balances are near perfect. The #7 in this set manages to avoid the awkwardnesses that turn up in other recordings because of balance problems. #3 is grand without trying to be earth-shattering, and so on. There's a lot of warmth and love throughout all of them, qualities that seem to be missing from too many modern self-conscious sets and plenty of flashy older ones. Kempe is an underrated conductor.



I'd like to see Brilliant or Naxos pick this up and a lot of reviewers set their magnifying glasses and tweezers aside to uniformly recommend this as the all-round best budget pick."