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Beethoven: Symphonie No 9, Etc / Karajan, Berlin Po


Release Date: 01/23/1996 
Label:  Dg The Originals Catalog #: 447401   Spars Code: ADD 
Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Walter Berry,  Gundula Janowitz,  Hilde Rössl-Majdan,  Waldemar Kmentt
Conductor:  Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,  Vienna Singverein
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 1 Hours 16 Mins. 

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Notes and Editorial Reviews

Herbert von Karajan's 1962 Beethoven Ninth--the best of his three stereo efforts. Karajan's focused drive continues to impress even today--the first movement launches with a clear trajectory that carries through to the powerful final bars, and picks up again with a brisk and biting scherzo. The finale's opening is better balanced here than on the conductor's later efforts, which give too much prominence to the woodwinds. Karajan's traditional approach makes for a ponderous middle section ("Seid umschlungen"), but this was pretty much how it was done in those days. What was more uncommon was the Berlin Philharmonic's polished, virtuoso playing, as well as Karajan's smooth, streamlined phrasing, qualities that make his rendition a Read more bit less gripping than the somewhat grittier renditions by Szell, Bernstein, or Wand. DG's spacious recording, made in Berlin's Jesus Christus Kirche, captures the full range of the orchestra with admirable fidelity--especially the low end, with the double basses resounding with greater immediacy in the new format. An eminently collectable performance, and not just for Karajan fans.

– Victor Carr Jr., ClassicsToday.com, reviewing the SACD reissue of this recording
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Works on This Recording

1. Symphony no 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Walter Berry (Bass Baritone), Gundula Janowitz (Soprano), Hilde Rössl-Majdan (Mezzo Soprano),
Waldemar Kmentt (Tenor)
Conductor:  Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,  Vienna Singverein
Period: Classical 
Written: 1822-1824; Vienna, Austria 
 Date of Recording: 1962 
Venue:  Jesus Christus Kirche, Berlin 
Length: 66 Minutes 47 Secs. 
Language: German 
2. Coriolan Overture in C minor, Op. 62 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Conductor:  Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Classical 
Written: 1807; Vienna, Austria 
 Date of Recording: 09/1965 
Venue:  Jesus Christus Kirche, Berlin 
Length: 9 Minutes 0 Secs. 

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