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Beethoven: The Nine Symphonies | 
 enlarge | Creators: Ludwig Van Beethoven, Georg Solti, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jessye Norman, Robert Schunk, Reinhild Runkel, Hans Sotin
Label: Decca
Category: Music
List Price: $67.98
Buy New: $49.30
You Save: $18.68 (27%)
New (19) Used (8) from $39.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 70690
Format: Box Set
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 6
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 5.8 x 5.1 x 2.2
MPN: 430400
UPC: 028943040020
EAN: 0028943040020
ASIN: B0000041XV
Release Date: September 11, 1990
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Item. CD, DVD, Book, VHS more than 400 000 titles to choose from. ALL days Low Price !
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | 1. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio | | • | 2. Andante cantabile con moto | | • | 3. Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace | | • | 4. Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace | | • | 1. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio | | • | 2. Larghetto | | • | 3. Scherzo: Allegro | | • | 4. Alelgro molto |
Disc 2
| • | 1. Allegro con brio | | • | 2. Marcia funebre: Adagio assai | | • | 3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace | | • | 4. Finale: Allegro molto | | • | Overture |
Disc 3
| • | 1. Allegro con brio | | • | 2. Andante con moto | | • | 3. Allegro | | • | 4. Allegro | | • | 1. Adagio - Allegro vivace | | • | 2. Adagio | | • | 3. Allegro vivace | | • | 4. Allegro ma non troppo |
Disc 4
| • | 1. Allegro ma non troppo. Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arriving in the country | | • | 2. Andante molto mosso. By the brook | | • | 3. Allegro. Peasants' merrymaking | | • | 4. Allegro. Thunderstorm | | • | 5. Allegretto. Shepherd's song. Happy and thankful feelings after the storm |
Disc 5
| • | 1. Poco sostenuto - Vivace | | • | 2. Allegretto | | • | 3. Presto | | • | 4. Allegro con brio | | • | 1. Allegro vivace e con brio | | • | 2. Allegretto scherzando | | • | 3. Tempo di menuetto | | • | 4. Allegro vivace |
Disc 6
| • | 1. Allegro ma non tropo, un poco maestoso | | • | 2. Molto vivace | | • | 3. Adagio molto e cantabile | | • | 4. Presto - Allegro assai - Andante maestoso - Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 Absolutely terrific set by first rate performers! September 9, 2008
It is my by far most loved rendition of Beethoven. It is so well perfoemd, easy on ear and top notch recorded. It is not boring and over-hyped "standard hysterical Karajan" version of force-fed Beethoven.
You also may like Beethoven Symphonies 1,2,3,4,5,6 and Art Galleries of the Time, 2DVDs+3CDs Ultimate MosaicDVD Collection
I really liked the balance and comprehensive integrity of this set.
The Best Beethoven Symphonies Recording I've Ever Heard June 20, 2007
This is absolutely a gorgeous recording. It is uplifting and some of the softer sections of the 9th Symphony are so beautiful it brings tears to your eyes.
The Karajan Beethoven Symphonies of 1963 which many rave over is a casualty of not transferring from analog to digital well. Though Karajan's interpretation is wonderful, it is overpowering to the point of speaker overload in the stronger parts and too weak in the softer parts which is typical of old live analog orchestra recordings transferring to digital.
I think Sir Georg was the last of the conductors of his time and style, which is very sad. There will never be a kind like him or Karajan again.
 Solti's Beethoven is mainly for his fans. April 21, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Although there are some great moments in Sir Georg Solti's last Beethoven Symphony cycle, recorded 1986-89, there are generally better recordings available.
First of all, Sir Georg's tempos in Symphony I: IV and Symphony 2: IV are break-neck, and almost reckless, so much so the Chicago players have trouble staying together!
The recording job throughout is acceptable, but the orchestra does not sound that realistic or immediate, and Decca's usually rich bass and midrange don't come through as in many other Solti recordings. The record level is low, and one has to boost the volume quite alot to get any sense of presence.
I don't think as highly of this set as some listeners might, as I have other recordings of Beethoven I turn to more often: Karl Bohm/Vienna Philharmonic (DG, rec. 1970-72) especially for Symphonies 2,3,4,5,6, and 8; Bernstein/Vienna Philharmonic (DG, rec. 1977-9); Szell/Cleveland (Sony Essential classics, rec. 1959-68) for Symphonies 1,3,4,and 9;
Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG, either the 1961-2 or 1975-77 cycle, both available as complete sets); Bruno Walter/Columbia Symphony (Sony: Symphonies 2,3,4,6, and 8); Ormandy/Philadelphia Orchestra (Sony: Symphonies 5,6 and 8 - may be hard to find in April, 2007) or even Solti/Chicago Symphony in an earlier analog cycle (London, rec. 1972-74) which has sound with better presence: more defined bass, than this recording. Those who are Chicago Symphony fans and MUST have one of their recordings could seek out any of the Fritz Reiner/Chicago Beethovens: Symphonies 1,3,5,6,7 and 9 are still available (RCA).
In light of the competition, I'd pass on this one.
If you like Solti/Chicago, consider their recordings of the Brahms Symphonies (London, 4 CD set). And for SOLTI fans, he recorded the Beethoven Symphonies 3, 5 and 7 with the Vienna Philharmonic (Decca, 1958), a recording I have not heard, but have read is very good, better than either of Solti's Chicago Beethoven Symphony recordings.
big shouldered beethoven from the city of big shoulders... August 5, 2006
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is a broad, powerful, heavy-duty Beethoven symphony cycle, free of idiosyncracy, that can stand as a benchmark to measure against more unconventional interpretations, a kind of golden mean of Beethoven. Decca's spacious sonics foregrounds Solti's attention to orchestral detail; all the sections, particularly the low strings and the winds can be heard to beautiful effect. Solti's tempos are expansive, and as befits a great opera conductor,incident rules over architecture. The decade from the late '80's to the late '90's was a stellar period for Beethoven symphony cycles. The four best, each completely at odds with the other, are Gardiner (period performance practice, Beethoven as French revolutionary, martial, manic, zealous); Barenboim (Wagnerian, deep orchestral colors, expressive tempos); Harnoncourt (raw,fusing Barenboim's personal expressiveness and Gardiner's small forces and fast tempos --Beethoven as untamed avant gardist, somewhere between Bach and Schoenberg); and this set, where Solti utilizes a Wagnerian orchestra with strong on-the-beat phrasing (Toscanini to Barenboim's Furtwangler). This conductor was the last of the old-school Middle Europeans in the field, and one of the only members of his breed to benefit from a first-rate band recorded with clarity in digital sound. (Karajan's late Beethoven cycle is to be avoided at all cost). If you like your Ludwig Van straight up, technocratic, without weirdness or surprises, then this set is for you (I mean that as a compliment...)
Solti's Great Beethoven- an essential! May 22, 2006
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
Reviewers would tell you that Karajan's first Deutsche Grammophon recordings is the Beethoven cycle to own. While I believe that Karajan's string-rich virtuoso view of Beethoven's score is refreshing, a quick comparison of the score and Karajan's music shows that he often takes a very Wagnerian (rubato) view of the score. Most people believe that Wagnerian entails a brassy, loud "heavy-metal" handed interpretation of the music. This, however, is a misconception that needs to be erased. Unlike Wagner, Beethoven had metronome markings in his score that a conductor needs to interpret to music to make the music sound right. Also, the development in the symphonies' musical and emotional structure are aided by these score markings to make it easier for the conductor to bring forth the composer's message. Karajan took a Wagnerian style of conducting in the sense that he changed some of the tempi to his liking. Solti, however, follows Beethoven's score in a German Romantic tradition. This means that there is a transparency to his conducting, but not to the degree that Szell takes with his Beethoven. Every musical detail is heard, and the strings are very well accentuated too. Karajan's recording emphasized the strings too much and drowned the other instruments. I find that although his Beethoven symphonies can be rather ravishing, it does not offer a very complete vision of the music.
These Chicago recordings (recorded by possibly the greatest symphony in the world at that time, the CSO) are undoubtedly the work of a conductor who knew the intentions of Beethoven very well and respected them. I highly recommend this set for anyone who wants to listen to Beethoven as it should be performed.
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