Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Herbert Kegel, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra :: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 8

Wonderful Beethoven under direction of Herbert Kegel

Philly Gal | Philadelphia, PA USA | 01/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here we have two excellent 1982 Beethoven performances from the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of the Master Conductor Herbert Kegel. We have asked Amazon to update the listing to include these credits (we were surprised that this data was not presented for recordings from such an eminent conductor and prominent orchestra...) Herbert Kegel was a German conductor from Dresden (b. 29 July 1920, d. 20 November 1990). He studied under the great German conductor Karl Böhm. From 1948-1977 Kegel was associated with the Leipzig Radio Orchestra and Choir, of which he became principal conductor in 1960. From 1977-1985 he became principal conductor of Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. Sadly, he committed suicide in 1990 and a great, intuitive dirigent was lost to the classical music world. His death was a most poignant blow to Beethoven lovers everywhere. Kegel's recording career was incredibly productive and successful, and his work is very much sought after. His 1963 recording of the Shostakovich 1 is the stuff of legend, many would say it has never been equaled. In 2006 a 15-CD set was released by Berlin Classics, titled HERBERT KEGEL: LEGENDARY RECORDINGS. We invested in this fabulous collection and have been enlightened and enlivened by these incredible performances. Not surprisingly, the Shostakovich 1 is the first track on Disc 1, which seemed to be a deliberate producers' choice to sweep the listener headlong into Kegel's wonderland.

Back to this particular little remastering of the 6th & 8th: We have the 1999 SPJ release, and it is a fine remastering of these 1962 Kegel performances (see the green cover image next to the title listing). The pink cover image is another release on the Capriccio label, which we also bought, and it is just about the same in sound quality. Whichever one you might pick up, you will not be disappointed! Both symphonies are delivered with delicious brio."