Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 'Choral' - download (MP3 & FLAC)

Fritz Wunderlich frequently sang the tenor part in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on Schiller’s “Ode to joy”, but he never recorded it on LP. His contribution makes this live recording of a 1962 concert at the Hessischer Rundfunk a rarity and closes a gap in the discographic legacy of the singer who died so prematurely. Wunderlich’s cantabile performance style ennobles the tenor solo in the “alla Marcia“ style, and he smoothly blends into the excellent line-up of soloists: Shige Yano (soprano), Marga Höffgen (alto) and Theo Adam (bass-baritone). The conductor is Dean Dixon, the first Afro-American to hold the post of chief conductor (1961-1974) of a German Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886–1954), along with Arturo Toscanini, were unquestionably the two dominant conductors of classical music in the 20th century.

Furtwängler always regarded Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony as a near-religious work and the performances he gave were always special occasions.

This release is important because it has never been released before outside Japan and came about because Furtwängler, having scheduled a number of performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 in January 1953, fell ill during the first concert, which was abandoned. The concerts were then re-scheduled for the end of May with an extra performance thrown in for those who were at the uncompleted one.

This took place on May 30 but is often confused with the final concert which took place a day later, on May 31, and which has been released on a number of labels.

The original sound of the May 30 concert is superior to that of the performance of May 31 and has been enhanced with Ambient Mastering.

The first volume in an exciting new series on Naïve which sees director Emmanuel Krivine and his orchestra, La Chambre Philharmonique, record the complete Beethoven Symphonies on period instruments. This eagerly anticipated new recording combines the large-scale vigour, drama and passion of Beethoven with the expert musicianship of Emmanuel Krivine, Choeur de chambre les Eléments and his superb La Chambre Philharmonique. The interpretation of the complete Beethoven Symphonies in partnership with three venues (the Cité de la Musique in Paris, MC2: Grenoble, and the Théâtre de Caen) and the associated recordings on Naïve mark a defining moment for the orchestra’s profile.

Formed by Krivine in 2004, La Chambre Philharmonique consists of musicians from the greatest European ensembles all motivated by the same desire to make music. In its short recording history, La Chambre Philharmonique has already received high critical acclaim. Its second release, devoted to Mendelssohn (2007), won numerous awards in the press including ƒƒƒƒ in Télérama. The first-ever recording on period instruments of Dvorák’s Symphony ‘From the New World’, coupled with Schumann’s Konzertstück, won a Classique d’Or RTL on its release by Naïve in 2008.