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Imserba Webstore - Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 7
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List Price: $11.98
Our Price: $10.99
Your Save: $ 0.99 ( 8% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028944740028
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon
Release Date: 1996-01-23
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
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Editorial Reviews:
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Long regarded as the quintessential interpretation of the most popular and best-loved symphony ever written, this performance of the Fifth has everything: passion, precision, drama, lyric beauty, and a coiled fury in the first movement that sets your pulse racing from the very first note. Carlos Kleiber has made very few recordings in his distinguished career, but almost all are special. If you own no other copy of this symphony, this is the one to get. It comes with an exceptional performance of the Seventh--not quite as gripping as the Fifth, but definitely one of the great ones. There is classical music, and there are classic recordings of classical music. This one's a classic. -- David Hurwitz
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Definitive Fifth, Great Seventh
Comment: The Fifth is very, very polished and sounds just like it should. What more could you say about a recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony? I mean, it's the Fifth Symphony! Next I'll review the Mona Lisa... I can say that this Fifth seems "faster" than some versions, but at the same time it feels like it has the exact right tempo. It is my favorite recording of the Fifth and probably my favorite recording of any of Beethoven's symphonies. The recording of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is great as well, and is my second favorite recording of that piece (Guido Cantelli's ancient Seventh is my personal favorite, and obviously such comparisons are very subjective). You cannot go wrong with this album.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable music
Comment: The Vienna Symphony delivers these famous Beethoven Symphonies with great skill and feeling. Very enjoyable.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Karajan's '63 versions are better
Comment: It's an interesting experience to compare Kleiber's studio effort with Vienna, with Karajan's early 1960s recordings with Berlin.
I've done it a few times now, same sound system, and I find Karajan's readings more urgent, more exciting, and possessing much more weight--in a good way. Also, rather oddly--considering Karajan's later reputation--Karajan's readings from the early 60s actually sound more spontaneous than Kleiber's. I suspect Karajan was smart enough to let the Orchestra have its way more than he might have later--so he gets some of the benefit of the more-spontaneous Furtwangler-trained Berlin Philharmonic, added to what must have been some careful rehearsal by Karajan, and the result works to his advantage.
Kleiber's studio-work in particular was often notoriously over-controlled, and that seems to be the case in these recordings. I find the Vienna orchestra has insufficient weight compared to Karajan's Berlin Philharmonic, and Kleiber seems to have everything in such a tight grip, the music really never cuts loose.
If you're looking for big-orchestra Beethoven, there are many choices in these two symphonies. On balance, after so many years gone by, Karajan's '63 recordings are still extremely satisfying, where Kleiber's work here just misses the mark for me.
Try the comparison. Memory is tricky. Try it and see what you hear.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Comment: It is an unusual experience listening to this recording. This was my first time listening to the 5th as I am new to the classical music. I got this version of the 5th because of a simple recommendation by a website. Since then I have been trawling through other recordings to see if they sounded different and I was suprised at how much interpretation of a particular piece of music makes all the difference. Well duh anybody on this site could have told me that. However what startled me the most is the way this version 'coloured' the experience of listening to the other versions, particularly the opening movement. They often sounded sluggish or muddled. I found myself waiting for something to correct some of my previous assumptions that were all based listening to this version and it just didn't happen. Most of the people that have listened to a variety of versions of this are able to keep relatively objective, but I can't. It's like I said in the title, a Masterpiece.
P.S If you are looking for a version of this and thinking of starting to listen to classical music as a hobby then try out Karajan's version first. Maybe it will colour the way you view this version! I believe that Karajan's 5 is clearly very good, but for me it pales in significance to this. I was listening to this on my kit at home and even took it to work. my workmates cant believe that I have this in my stacker between Faith no more and cat power. They say I clearly don't know who I am anymore........ maybe they are right?
Customer Rating:
Summary: The essence of Beethoven
Comment: Get this recording, play it on a good stereo or in your car while on your favorite drive - turn the volume up....you just met Beethoven. Simply fantastic.
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