Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 7

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For all those who raved about this recording, they had reason to. Outstanding performance even from an old pressing and transfer.

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This disc contains the most fantastic argument that Beethoven is the greatest musical composer in the history of the world. The opening notes of the 5th alone are justification for buying the best audio equipment you can afford and turning it up LOUD. I'm a layman when it comes to classical music - heavy rock is my background - but this music has every bit as much energy and passion as any dozen heavy metal bands. And if you listen to a different recording you will hear a difference in quality, its not a hard thing with so much music on the internet. The orchestra are so good if you are a musician of any type you will be awed by the scale and brilliance of the music and the performance. If you only buy one classical cd get this - you will not be disappointed.

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Considering how well served this symphony is by the gramophone, and how many superb artists have given us the benefit of their reading, the praise heaped on this hysterical product is well-nigh incomprehensible to me. I don't wish to single out any competitors; but just by way of example (and because Kleiber is plainly imitating a famous precedent), listen to the first movement, alternating section by section in quick succession, between Karajan's 1962 recording Ludwig van Beethoven: 9 Symphonien and this Kleiber offering. Quick switching helps you focus on the details; and especially on how the conductor controls the dynamics. Result: you'll hear a man doing his best work and a boy trying his best to match his footprints step by step. Even the 80-year-old Bruno Walter managed to show what dynamism really means. Not running wild, like a dog chasing a rabbit. Same applies to the last movement. There is no grandeur here, just climax piled on climax in a senseless paroxysm of noise.
The seventh, in contrast, is almost too demure. Maybe Kleiber felt that enough was enough; but (comparison again) you can go to Solti/Chicago SO Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 to discover how truly powerful dynamics can be made to arise from a basically quite slow pace.
I don't want to harp. Yet I kept going back to this album, saying to myself, "surely this excitement is not just hype -- there must be something to it?" Well, I've come to the point where I don't ever want to hear this again. Music need not be just pleasure; but it should be (especially this symphony) sublime in its turbulence, and uplifting in the grandeur of its final pages. But this performance leaves me breathless and dismayed. When it's over, you shake your head and ask, where amid this furious gesticulating is all the greatness gone?

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I was skeptical that this recording would be significantly better than the existing one I had (Bruno Walter, which is pretty good!), but wow. There is a lot of energy in this recording. I found myself stopping my work and just listening to it.

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Without question, you can call these masterpiece recordings the greatest performances of Beethoven's 5th and 7th (among others). I have listened to many versions and these are gripping. The 5th is particularly astonishing; the momentum and power are incredible.

There are many great Beethoven recordings to choose from. For the Beethoven's 7th I like Hornoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Compare the two. The winds, sound and overall balance are excellent. Also, an equally great Beethoven's 5th is Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra Beethoven Fifth from the outstanding Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra's Complete Beethoven Symphonies. The "voice," dynamics and readings are superb and true to Beethoven, although the power eruption is not stunning like Kleiber and Wiener Philharmoniker's Beethoven Symphonies 5 & 7. Listen to a few versions and decide for yourself. They all are wonderful.