Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. I. Adagio - Allegro Vivace
2. II. Andante Cantabile Con Moto
3. III. Menuetto (Allegro Molto E Vivace) & Trio
4. IV. Adagio - Allegro Molto E Vivace
5. I. Allegro Con Brio
6. II. Marcia Funebre (Adagio Assai)
7. III. Scherzo (Allegro Vivace) & Trio
8. IV. Finale (Allegro Molto - Poco Andante - Presto)

Disc 2:

1. I. Allegro Con Brio
2. II. Larghetto
3. III. Scherzo (Allegro)
4. IV. Allegro Molto
5. I. Allegro Vivace E Con Brio
6. II. Allegretto Scherzando
7. III. Tempo Di Menuetto
8. IV. Allegro Vivace

Disc 3:

1. I. Adagio - Allegro Vivace - Jonathan Carney
2. II. Adagio - Jonathan Carney
3. III. Menuetto (Allegro Vivace) & Trio (Un Poco Meno Allegro) - Jonathan Carney
4. IV. Allegro Ma Non Troppo - Jonathan Carney
5. I. Pleasant, Cheerful Feelings Awakened On Arrival In The Countryside (Allegro Ma Non Troppo) - Jonathan Carney
6. II. Scene By The Brook (Andante Molto Moto) - Jonathan Carney
7. III. Merry Gathering Of The Country Folk (Allegro) - - Jonathan Carney
8. IV. Thunder. Storm (Allegro) - - Jonathan Carney
9. V. Shepherds' Song: Beneficent Feelings, Combined With Thanks To The Deity, After The Storm (Allegretto) - Jonathan Carney

Disc 4:

1. I. Allegro Con Brio
2. II. Andante Con Moto
3. III. Allegro -
4. IV. Allegro
5. I. Poco Sostenuto - Vivace
6. II. Allegretto
7. III. Presto - Assai Meno Presto
8. IV. Allegro Con Brio

Disc 5:

1. I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo E Un Poco Maestoso (1/4 nt = 88)
2. II. Molto Vivace (1/2 nt = 116) - Presto (1/2 nt = [?]) - Molto Vivace - Presto
3. III. Adagio Molto Cantabile (1/4 nt = 60) - Andante Moderato (1/4 nt = 63) - Tempo I - Andante Moderato - Tempo I - Stesso Tempo
4. IV. Presto (1/2 nt = 66) - Allegro Ma Non Troppo (1/4 nt = 88) - Tempo I - Vivace - Tempo I - Adagio Cantabile - Tempo I - Allegro Assai (1/2 nt = 80) - Tempo I - Allegro Assai (1/2 nt = 80) -
5. IV. Presto - Recitativo - Allegro Assai
6. IV. Allegro Assai Vivace. Alla Marcia ([1/2 nt] = 84) -
7. IV. Andante Maestoso (1/2 nt = 72) - Adagio Ma Non Troppo, Ma Divoto (1/2 nt = 60) -
8. IV. Allegro Energico E Sempre Ben Marcato (1/2 nt = 84) -
9. IV. Allegro Ma Non Tanto (1/2 nt = 120) -
10. IV. Poco Allegro, Stringendo Il Tempo, Sempre Piu Allegro -
11. IV. Presto (1/2 nt = 132) -
12. IV. Maestoso (1/4 nt = 60) - Prestissimo

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25523 in Music
• Released on: 2002-09-16
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .50 pounds
• Running time: 326 minutes

Customer Reviews

Bargain basement Beethoven

There is an ever-growing number of recordings of Beethoven symphony cycles available, creating a somewhat daunting task for one who is looking for the answer to the question `which one is best?' It's all a matter of personal choice of course, some consider the most faithful and accurate interpretation to be best, while others take the most dynamic and exciting to mean best.

What is almost indisputable however is that this Beethoven symphony collection, performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded on various dates between 1991 and 1997 is probably the best value of its type currently available.

The 9 symphonies, on 5 discs, are neatly packaged into a double width CD case, with a comprehensive 24 page booklet insert (all in English) explaining the story behind each symphony, some notes by Jonathan Del Mar on the Urtext editions (which these are) and some pictures of Sir Charles Mackerras and a suitably stern-looking Ludwig van Beethoven.

The performances throughout the symphonies are good, although I'm admittedly a little biased towards the Liverpool Philharmonic, having seen some outstanding performances from them on several occasions, and the recordings, while not the brightest and most dynamic I have heard, have been overly criticised I feel.

This is a great low-cost opportunity to buy the complete Beethoven symphonies - for the novice wanting perhaps to purchase them for the first time, and for the collector, who can add another interpretation of these masterpieces to their library.

Outstanding Value
If you like your LvB symphonies played with metronome precision and orchestrated predicability, then these recordings are not for you.

The RLPO and Sir Charles have produced a magnificent series, I believe just what LvB would have wanted, you will never 'nod off' listening to these interpretations.

Every forte is a big/big sound, the tempo are usually very aggressive, the crescendi/diminuendi are beautifully controlled and the ensemble melodic lines are played in complete unison.

An excellent series by this excellent UK Orchestra,

Fresh as Paint, Cheap as Chips
The restoration of a 'old master' may produce results that shock. The shock can be healthy - if it is the effect of glimpsing the truth after having been used to seeing only a disfigured, obscured image. There is something of that shock in listening to the Beethoven symphonies under Mackerras - and very healthy it is too!

There is something essentially vernal, fresh, spring-like about Mackerras's direction. These are in no sense heavy-handed 'interpretations'. They spring and bound along - often at a cracking pace. Only occasionally does this approach seem to go against the grain. The finale of the Eroica is surely too jaunty (dancing sailors on the poop-deck) and the 'big' Eighth symphony is too breathless for its real grandeur to register. But in most cases the results are splendid - in the 4th; 5th; 6th 7th and 9th the results are triumphantly good. Mackerras's tempi in the finale of the 9th are radically different from many other performances - but they sound 'right', the 'traditional' approach sounding moribund by comparison (by-the-way, the soloists blend beautifully in the 9th, the fresh-voiced choir match the mood).