Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36

When Rudolf Kempe was principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic back in the 1970's, the culmination of his long career was the recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies – an edition marked by maturity and the highest artistic standards. These recordings are one of the highlights of the Red Line series, and with this CD featuring Symphonies nos. 2 & 4 the entire set has now been reissued.

‘The name of Beethoven is a hallowed one in the realm of art. His symphonies are universally acknowledged today as masterpieces. . . . Thanks to the untold development of its harmonic power, the piano tends increasingly to assimilate the entire orchestral repertoire. In the compass of its seven octaves, it can produce, with only a few exceptions, all the characteristics, all the combinations, all the most learned compositional figures . . . Such has been my aim in the work I publish today.’ Rome, 1865

After the very successful release of the single DVDs we now release Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1 – 9 including nine one hour documentaries, one for each film. Maestro Thielemann and Joachim Kaiser (the most famous German music critic) discuss and analyze in an entertaining conversational exchange Thielemann’s interpretation, complemented by excerpts from rehearsals as well as by comparisons of Beethoven cycles with Karajan, Bernstein, Böhm, Järvi etc. This is the Beethoven cycle of the 21st century!

9 DVDs or 3 Blu-rays in a valuable hardcover box with 16 hours of concerts and documentaries.

“Thielemann´s reading of the Beethoven symphonies stands heads and shoulders above the countless and mostly undistinguishable versions on offer.” Die Presse

“The performances, the Vienna Philharmonic on top form, can't help sounding wonderful...oddly, it is the discussions that are the most enjoyable elements in this ambitious set.” BBC Music Magazine * * */ *

“This is growling, mane-shaking Beethoven: a traditional approach to the music with full sound and large forces. Thielemann takes a precise yet lyrical approach to the music, as he discusses and demonstrates in the three hour-long accompanying musicological discussions.” Classic FM Magazine * * * *

Total: 956 minutes

Symphonies: 446 minutes

Documentaries: 510 minutes

DVD: DTS 5.0, PCM Stereo

Subtitles E, F, Sp, I, Kor., Chin.

NTSC: 3 DVD Amaray boxes in a harcover box (containing 9 DVDs)

Grammy Award-winning conductor Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen continue their spectacular Beethoven cycle on RCA Red Seal with the release of Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 6 and 2. The cycle will be completed in January 2010 with the release of Symphony No.9.

Järvi’s conducting career is going from strength to strength; as well as being Artistic Director of the Deutsch Kammerphilharmonie Bremen; Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, he is also the newly-named Music Director of L’Orchestre de Paris (beginning in 2010).

In the latest instalment of the Decca Ansermet Legacy, Decca Eloquence introduces the Swiss conductor's recordings of Beethoven - his symphony cycle, overtures and the rare Weingartner arrangement of the Grosse Fuge. They are issued as three 2-CD sets.

Francois Hudry, the supreme commentator on the art of Ernest Ansermet writes, "the new vision he brought to the Beethoven symphonies was astonishing. Perhaps he was too early in what he did, in his respect for the text and in his weeding out of all the Romantic touches and subjectivity which held sway at the time. Without recourse to so-called 'authentic' instruments, Ansermet was trying to return to the composer's intentions, as given in the score, avoiding the imposition of any responses of his own on the audience."

In Beethoven, Ansermet heard not just a titan but a romantic, sensual man, not just a thunderer but composer of sensitivity and subtlety. Even the mighty 'Eroica' was allowed to a reveal a softer, perhaps even a more feminine aspect. Whether he was conducting Beethoven or Ravel, Ansermet had a fine ear for instrumental colour, and a talent for keeping rhythms well-sprung and flexible. At times, Ansermet's Beethoven even seems to anticipate the 'authentic' Beethoven performances that became popular in the 1990s, although Ansermet got his results without having to rely on the sometimes unpredictable behaviour of period instruments.

This set contains the first three symphonies together with the eighth by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Although there are over 12 years separating No. 8 from the first two they probably have more in common than No. 3 has with its predecessors. The first two and No. 8 use the same size of orchestra as does Haydn in his last group of symphonies and Beethoven even uses the word menuetto for the third movement of No. 8. The first symphony shows his debt to Haydn and Mozart, especially the former when he starts both first and last movement with a slow introduction. During the completion of the second he had to face the awful realisation that he was going deaf so it is the third, arguably his most remarkable work, called “Eroica”, which took the form on to a much higher level of achievement. Some writers have given prominence to the figure of Napoleon – indeed Beethoven had originally intended to dedicate the work to him – but the use of a tune representing the hero Prometheus, from his ballet Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (The Creatures of Prometheus), on which he wrote variations for the last movement may well show that it was indeed Beethoven who, Prometheus like, is the hero in his stand against the wrath of the unjust gods. Wolfgang Sawallisch shows his enormous wealth of experience conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.