Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Pao, Otto Klemperer :: Klemperer Legacy - Beethoven: Symphonies no. 2 & 5 / Philharmonia Orchestra

A different approach.

John Peters | Austin, TX | 04/04/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Klemperer recorded these two symphonies during his legendary Beethoven cycle of 1957. There are many different ways to conduct Beethoven and his is undoubtedly one of the most unique. These performances are not the whip crack powerhouses that most listeners are accustomed too. Klemperer provides the listener with a different kind of power. It is monolithic but there is unquestionably no stopping it. The Second Symphony is heavier than most recordings but Klemperer and the Philharmonia are convincing. Certain points in the final movement are a little thick, but this is more than made up for in the previous three movements which have a very fresh sound to them. The Fifth Symphony is unlike any other you will hear and is much more in line with Klemperer's forte. If you are used to recordings that are fast and driven (notably those of Reiner, von Karajan, and Szell) you may need to hear this recording a few times before you begin to appreciate it. It has slower tempos and the playing is more drawn out and not quite as tight. Nor is it as highly charged as others which some listeners may find disappointing. But it is granite solid and Klemperer does not rush through it the way many others do. He gives the music in both symphonies plenty of time to breathe and it is always articulated well. If you have heard and are familiar with Beethoven recordings by Klemperer you will definetly hear a similar performance style."

Good, but not the best

Nelson Jose De Camargo | São Paulo, Brazil | 04/20/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It is a very slowly performance of these symphonies. The fifth is even slower than Furtwängler's recordind with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra(38 minutes long), but does not have the same "drama". The sound, however, is much better. The second symphony is much heavier than usual and sound like a romantic work by Bruckner, but I like this kind of performance. It's a good CD, I must admit, and eveyone who really like Beethoven's symphonies should listen to it."

A Mixed Bag

David Saemann | 06/13/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a somewhat frustrating CD. The Fifth is Klemperer's second go at the work for EMI. It was recorded at Abbey Road in 1959, and the sound engineering is superb. It is one of those slow as molasses Klemperer recordings that is full of insight and conviction. Klemperer told Rafael Kubelik that the only correct tempo of a piece was the way the composer heard it in his mind. That being said, the internal logic of the Fifth comes across in this reading in a way I can't say it has anywhere else. There is good reason for preferring Klemperer's faster 1955 recording of this work to what we have here, but I still feel that the 1959 version makes for compelling listening. The same cannot be said for this recording of the Second. It was made two years earlier in Kingsway Hall, and the sound engineering is not nearly as appealing. I should say upfront that my two favorite recordings of the work are by Fritz Reiner and George Szell, both quicksilver and Haydnesque. Klemperer's sonorities, by contrast, are gargantuan, even Wagnerian. In fact, this appears to be an even louder performance than that of the 5th. Here Klemperer's slow tempos seem to meander along without any logic. There is no snap to the rhythms. The orchestral playing suffers too, with some awkward balances among the wind instruments. Still, I think you should try this disc for the performance of the 5th. It's an experience you will have nowhere else."