Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5

Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

Jordan’s account of the Fourth is well-nigh ideal: lithe, lyrical, rhythmically intent...The performance of the Fifth Symphony is lean-bodied and swift in the modern style…Whatever one’s preferences... — Gramophone Magazine, June 2018 More…

Release Date: 16th Feb 2018
Catalogue No: WS014
Label: Wiener Symphoniker
Series: Jordan Beethoven Symphonies
Length: 66 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

June 2018

Editor's Choice

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60

Work length32:09

$7.00

$9.05

$12.25

Wiener Symphoniker
Philippe Jordan
Recorded: 8-9 March 2017
Recording Venue: Goldener Saal, Musikverein, Vienna, Austria

I. Adagio - Allegro vivace

Track length11:02

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

II. Adagio

Track length8:40

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

III. Menuetto. Allegro vivace

Track length5:43

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

IV. Allegro ma non troppo

Track length6:44

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

Work length34:11

$8.00

$10.35

$14.00

Wiener Symphoniker
Philippe Jordan
Recorded: 8-9 March 2017
Recording Venue: Goldener Saal, Musikverein, Vienna, Austria

I. Allegro con brio

Track length6:59

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

II. Andante con moto

Track length8:46

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

III. Allegro

Track length7:46

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

IV. Allegro

Track length10:40

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

About
Reviews
Explore

About

For the first time in their history, the Wiener Symphoniker will release a complete Beethoven symphonies cycle on CD. The Wiener Symphoniker wrote music history with the first performances of works by Bruckner, Ravel and Schoenberg. And under the baton of such illustrious music directors as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Carlo Maria Giulini or Georges Prêtre they acquired worldwide fame for their unique Viennese sound. Considering its rich, more than a century long history, it comes as a surprise that the orchestra has never before recorded a full cycle of the nine symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven which are widely considered to constitute the apex of the symphonic repertoire.

This shortcoming is about to be remedied: Started in autumn 2017, the Wiener Symphoniker will release the full cycle on 5 CDs. With a new CD of the series to be released every 6 months, the full cycle will be completed just in time for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven in 2020. The symphonies were recorded live during a critically acclaimed concert cycle in Spring/Summer 2017 in the Great Hall of the Musikverein Wien. At these concerts, the international press specifically praised Jordan’s approach to combining a traditional Viennese sound with a more contemporary, slimmed down interpretation of the material, original tempi and insights from the historically informed performance practice. Through a close reading of the score and by focusing on the content of the works, Jordan aimed to create – in his words – a “more natural, direct, humanised“ image of the famous composer."

Reviews

June 2018

Jordan’s account of the Fourth is well-nigh ideal: lithe, lyrical, rhythmically intent...The performance of the Fifth Symphony is lean-bodied and swift in the modern style…Whatever one’s preferences as to text or pulse, rest assured that what Jordan and his superbly trained players give us is thought-through Beethoven of the highest order.

Classical Music May 2018

Jordan’s approach is informed by historical considerations: accents are punchy and tempos fast – the Adagio of the Fourth is very much a case in point. The Vienna Symphony is in fine form, and there are some notable solos (the clarinet in the Adagio of the Fourth). The discipline is remarkable in the Fourth’s faster movements, particularly in the explosive finale. The Fifth’s opening movement is busy and energetic while the slow movement holds some remarkable, vibrato-less sonorities from the strings.

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5

CD

Downloads

Contents

Download queue