Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 & Overtures

Readings focused entirely on the composer, not on debating how things ‘should’ sound...The playing is responsive and immaculate throughout, forming the backbone of Chailly’s brilliantly authentic... — Daniel Ross, bbc.co.uk, 26th October 2011 More…

Release Date: 2nd Nov 2011
Catalogue No: 4783492
Label: Decca
Series: Riccardo Chailly Complete Beethoven Symphonies
Length: 6 hours 13 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

23rd January 2012
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2012

Finalist - Orchestral
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Awards Issue 2011

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Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21

Work length23:06

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2007-06-09
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

1. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio

Track length8:00

2. Andante cantabile con moto

Track length6:26

3. Menuetto (Allegro molto e vivace)

Track length3:12

4. Finale (Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace)

Track length5:28

Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus Overture, Op. 43

Work length4:54

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-11-29
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36

Work length30:25

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-01-30
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

1. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio

Track length11:35

2. Larghetto

Track length9:13

3. Scherzo (Allegro)

Track length3:28

4. Allegro molto

Track length6:09

Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72b

Work length12:27

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-05-23
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 'Eroica'

Work length42:18

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2008-10-04
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

1. Allegro con brio

Track length15:10

2. Marcia funebre (Adagio assai)

Track length12:10

3. Scherzo (Allegro vivace)

Track length5:29

4. Finale (Allegro molto)

Track length9:29

Beethoven: Fidelio Overture Op. 72c

Work length6:35

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-11-29
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60

Work length29:38

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-05-23
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

1. Adagio - Allegro vivace

Track length10:27

2. Adagio

Track length7:42

3. Allegro vivace

Track length5:10

4. Allegro ma non troppo

Track length6:19

Beethoven: Egmont Overture, Op. 84

Work length8:09

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-05-30
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

Work length38:12

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2008-05-23
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

1. Poco sostenuto - Vivace

Track length13:23

2. Allegretto

Track length7:50

3. Presto - Assai meno presto

Track length8:11

4. Allegro con brio

Track length8:48

Beethoven: The Ruins of Athens Overture, Op. 113

Work length4:37

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-05-23
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93

Work length22:26

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-05-30
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

1. Allegro vivace e con brio

Track length8:12

2. Allegretto scherzando

Track length3:41

3. Tempo di menuetto

Track length4:16

4. Allegro vivace

Track length6:17

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62

Work length7:00

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2007-06-09
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

Work length30:02

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-09-12
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

1. Allegro con brio

Track length6:38

2. Andante con moto

Track length8:24

3. Allegro

Track length4:24

4. Allegro

Track length10:36

Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 'Pastoral'

Work length38:24

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-11-29
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

1. Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande: Allegro ma non troppo

Track length10:17

2. Szene am Bach: (Andante molto mosso)

Track length10:45

3. Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute (Allegro)

Track length4:56

4. Gewitter, Sturm (Allegro)

Track length3:37

5. Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm: Allegretto

Track length8:49

Beethoven: Zur Namensfeier overture, Op. 115

Work length6:05

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-11-29
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

Beethoven: König Stephan Overture, Op. 117

Work length6:01

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2009-11-29
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 'Choral'

Work length1:02:49

Katerina Beranova (soprano), Lilli Paasikivi (mezzo-soprano), Hanno Müller-Brachmann (bass), Robert Dean Smith (tenor)
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, MDR Rundfunkchor, GewandhausKinderchor, Gewandhauschor Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Recorded: 2008-12-31
Recording Venue: Gewandhaus, Leipzig

1. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso

Track length13:31

2. Molto vivace

Track length14:16

3. Adagio molto e cantabile

Track length12:51

4. Presto - Allegro ma non troppo

Track length22:11

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Recording of the Week, Beethoven Symphonies from Thielemann and Chailly

23rd January 2012

Thielemann offers a cycle in the grand Germanic tradition with the Wiener Philharmoniker, whilst Chailly’s interpretations with Gewandhausorchester Leipzig emphasise lightness and freshness without ever sounding too hard-driven or breathless. James puts the case for each approach.

This complete cycle of Beethoven’s nine Symphonies is a landmark event for Decca, for Maestro Chailly, and for the Gewandhausorchester, where he has been Kapellmeister since 2005.

These acclaimed performances were recorded live in the Gewandhaus over the last three years, in preparation for the highly-anticipated complete cycles that Maestro Chailly and the orchestra will give in several major European cities in October and November 2011 – performances which will provide the platform for launching these important new recordings.

The cycle showcases the finesse and musicality of the legendary Gewandhaus Orchestra − from the Haydnesque elegance of the first two symphonies, to the grandeur and drama of the choral Ninth Symphony.

This 5CD set of the nine Symphonies also includes selected Beethoven Overtures.

Reviews

26th October 2011

Readings focused entirely on the composer, not on debating how things ‘should’ sound...The playing is responsive and immaculate throughout, forming the backbone of Chailly’s brilliantly authentic crib-sheet of a symphony cycle.

Awards Issue 2011

Chailly's first recorded Beethoven cycle shows him to be a Classicist through and through...There is also a lovely Italianate cantabile which period strings would find it impossible (and possibly undesirable) to match...The recordings, I should add, are superb...There is space around the sound, as there needs to be in Beethoven, complemented by an immediacy and clarity of detail that derives in large measure from the playing itself.

May 2012

Chailly is direct, fiery, full of vitality and detail...[he] simply convinces me...To hear the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra on stupendous form in these masterpieces is a privilege, and one that's hard to resist given the blazing power and conviction of Chailly's vision.

23rd January 2012

there’s no doubting the lightness and freshness that these speeds bring to the music, as well as virtuoso playing from the orchestra...Something I kept noticing was how he brings out the rhythmic lines of the horns and trumpets, giving his interpretation a real sense of drive, and I delighted in picking up on little details I had not heard before.

23rd October 2011

His Beethoven represents a confrontation of tradition...with innovative ideas...From the outset, it is clear that Chailly’s Beethoven will be an exhilarating adventure: closely observing the once-controversial metronome markings, he conducts the fast movements of the C and D major symphonies with Haydnesque wit and brio...The breathtaking finale of No 8 is the most exciting I have heard on disc.

3rd November 2011

This is above all, an explosively swift cycle. Chailly is utterly faithful to Beethoven's metronome markings...but the tautness of the playing, the definition of its detail – especially from the woodwind – and the phenomenal range of dynamics the Gewandhaus Orchestra has at its command mean that weight and drama are always available to Chailly...The result is a Beethoven cycle that's up there with the best modern-orchestra versions of recent times

11th November 2011

they play as if possessed: Chailly has opted to stick faithfully to the composer's original tempos. The effect is revelatory: even old warhorses such as the 5th Symphony are transformed into galloping racehorses, in thoroughbred performances befitting the pedigree of the material, restoring a dash and brio to works whose revolutionary aspects can once again be clearly glimpsed.

18th November 2011

Chailly injects a colossal and thrilling urgency into the music...This is a remarkable feat, which owes much to the fabulous unanimity of the Leipzig players. Many orchestras would stumble over the finale of the Second Symphony, if taken at Chailly’s breakneck speed, but this one sails through unscathed.

The Arts Desk 26th November 2011

There is a monumentality and gravitas in these new Decca recordings, released to tie in with Chailly’s Barbican residency...You really do get the best of both worlds here – clear textures and sharp articulation to rival those of Krivine’s recent period cycle, paired with orchestral textures rich and characterful.

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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 & Overtures

5 CDs

Contents

Recording of the Week, Beethoven Symphonies from Thielemann and Chailly