Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Carl Maria von Weber, Klaus Tennstedt :: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5, Egmont Overture; Weber: Oberon Overture

Masterful Beethoven conducting in the grand old style

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Klaus Tennstedt was almost 30 by the time Furtwangler died in 1954 and nearly 50 before he catapulted from obscurity in provincial Germany to international fame in 1974. His career was cut short by thorat cancer barely twenty years later. This BBC tape of live concerts from 1989-91 shows why Tennstedt gained such renown: he was a Beethoven conductor in the grand manner of Furtwnagler and Klemperer but with more spring in his rhythms than either. All these performances are on the slow side and exploit to the full Beethoven's heroic exultancy.



It may turn out that we will get the best of Tennstedt from live recordings like this one. He was a musician of spontaneous inspiration. Here he gets the London Phil., his own orchestra, to play with total commitment and intensity. The slightly murky stereo sound in Sym. #5 isn't of stuido quality, and the mikes sit a bit far back. That said, it would be hard to imagine more thrilling performances. Be prepared for a Sym. #1 played as grandly as the Fifth. This generous (79 min.) CD is filled out with an inspired, if slow Oberon Over. that is almost the best thing on it.



P.S. 2010 - The Tennstedt reissue machinery has rolled onward, and now we have glorious recordings on Profil, BBC Legends, and the London Phil's house label."