Orchestral, Symphonies, Beethoven (composer)
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an essential recommendation for any collection. These are performances which seem to present a Beethoven 'for the ages', a distillation of a long interpretative tradition, without concern for... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, 100 Greatest Recordings
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Building a Library, October 1999, First Choice
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Building a Library, October 2007, First Choice
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Building a Library, January 2016, First Choice
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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Presto Greatest Recordings of the 1970s
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Beethoven: Symphony No. 6; Steven Stucky: Silent Spring
RecommendedPittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
The energy in the Peasants’ Merrymaking and Storm is fiercely controlled, and the final Thanksgiving, if also on the fast side, moves steadily towards its conclusion, with colourful sonorities... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2022, Editor's Choice
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Grammy Awards, 65th Awards (2023), Nominee - Best Engineered Album, Classical
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Symphonic Music
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Beethoven: Symphony No.9
RecommendedChristina Landshamer (soprano), Jennifer Johnson Cano (mezzo-soprano), Werner Güra (tenor), Shenyang (bass-baritone), Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
In terms of sound and precision, the performance is meticulous, immaculate and even. That’s not to say that Honeck doesn't occasionally play a little loose…Everything about this performance... —
Awards:
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Record Review, 27th March 2021, Record of the Week
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Grammy Awards, 64th Awards (2022), Nominee - Best Orchestral Performance
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Grammy Awards, 64th Awards (2022), Nominee - Best Engineered Classical Album
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Beethoven: Complete Symphonies
RecommendedDanish National Concert Choir, Danish Chamber Orchestra, Ádám Fischer
I find these performances utterly fascinating, though it would be next to impossible to offer a comprehensive catalogue of the various colourful twists and turns that characterise Fischer’s... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 19th July 2019
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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Building a Library, January 2020, Recommended Recording
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International Classical Music Awards, 2020, Winner - Symphonic Music
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International Classical Music Awards, 2020, Winner - Recording of the Year
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Conductor of the Year
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Winner - Orchestral (19th-century music)
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Beethoven for Three - Symphony No. 4 & 'Archduke' Trio
RecommendedEmanuel Ax (piano), Leonidas Kavakos (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello)
The more you explore this arrangement, the more you appreciate the way Wosner respects the original without being hemmed in by it. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, April 2024, Editor's Choice
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2024, Nominated - Chamber Music Recording of the Year
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Grammy Awards, 67th Awards (2025), Nominated - Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
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Sunday Times, 20 Best Classical Albums of 2024
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…these are performances that can hold their own with the best, and the quality of the recording… immaculate. …a superb conclusion to a worthwhile cycle. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2009, Finalist - Orchestral
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2009, Editor's Choice
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Beethoven Révolution Vol. II
RecommendedSymphonies 6 to 9
Sara Gouzy (soprano), Salome Fischer (alto), Mingjie Lei (tenor), Manuel Walser (baritone), Le Concert des Nations, La Capella Nacional de Catalunya, Jordi Savall
The performances were evolved over a series of ‘academies’ interrogating every aspect of the score. His interpretive decisions nonetheless feel organic rather than didactic…the finale of the... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2022, Recording of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Finalist - Orchestral
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Symphonic Music
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Building a Library, December 2022, Also Recommended - Beethoven 9
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Special offer. Beethoven - Complete Symphonies
RecommendedCharlotte Margiono (soprano), Birgit Remmert (alto), Ridolf Schasching (tenor), Robert Holl (bass)
Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Brimful of intrepid character and interpretative incident, this is surely one of the most stimulating Beethoven symphony cycles of recent times. As Harnoncourt himself states in the booklet:... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, 100 Greatest Recordings
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Building a Library, July 2005, Budget Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 1992, Recording of the Year
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Building a Library, January 2020, Also Recommended
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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9
RecommendedAnnette Dasch (soprano), Eva Vogel (mezzo), Christian Elsner (tenor), Dimitry Ivashchenko (bass)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Sir Simon Rattle
These performances are intensely alive and immensely invigorating. —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 13th May 2016
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2016, Disc of the month
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Diapason d’Or de l’Année, 2016, Winner - Musique Symphonique
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2016
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Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
RecommendedLive at Bayreuth Festspielhaus, Germany, 7/29/1951
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano), Elisabeth Höngen (alto), Hans Hopf (tenor), Otto Edelmann (bass), Festspielorchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Nothing else in the realms of recorded music is quite like it and I would urge you to share the experience...I’m not claiming that this performance will suit every mood or even every taste,... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2022, Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Historical
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Building a Library, December 2022, Historic Recording
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