Ludwig van Beethoven

I have heard a lot of Ludwig van Beethoven songs lately that I like. Is there an artist or symphony that anyone can recommend that performs his songs very well?

thanks!

 

Beethoven's sixth is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. If there is a heaven and if I make it I can only hope the first movement is being played when I arrive.

THIS is my favorite version.

 

thank you Jamie - I'll look onto Leonard Bernstein

 

I recommend the Living Stereo Hybrid SACD of Beethoven/Mendelssohn violin concertos:

http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_detail.cfm?Title_ID=14639&sct=music

David

 

See also:

Help out Steve: Ludwig van Beethoven, best recorded versions of these works?

Best sounding Beethoven?

 

The DG recordings of Piano Concertos 3 & 4 played by the Berlin Philharmonic with Kempff on Piano are a constant joy.

 

wow .. thanks .. that should about cover it ....

 

You should also get his 5th and 9th symphonies. They're quintessential classical pieces. I'm still looking for definitive performances of them.

 

Just to nitpick, Beethoven didn't write any songs. Symphonies, concerti, sonatas, opera, choral works, but no songs.

 

if i could chime in here, please...

i'm a fan of the third symphony, "eroica". check out Christoph von Dohnanyi conducting the Cleveland Orchestra on Telarc:

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1129514

the piece has an amazing history behind it, too. Michael Tilson Thomas hosts a great PBS program about it entitled "keeping score":

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7315277&style=movie&BAB=E


enjoy.

later, chris

 

Just to nit-pick further: you are incorrect.
Beethoven wrote LOTS of songs, they are known to us by a german term
for songs, which is "Lieder"

 

Actually Beethoven did indeed write songs-quite a number of them-Many of which have been recorded in splendid performances.

 

Jamie,

As much as I love the RCA Living Stereo series, you should look elsewhere for the 5th symphony. Munch gets the boys all cranked up and they blow through the first movement as if their annual bonus depends on finishing early!

David

 

If I was in your shoes, I would pick up a complete set of his Symphonies to start out. Every one is a treasure and they will become your good friends over time. Plus, they are often not expensive (although you should avoid getting a "cheapo" set; performance and sonics matter a great deal).

There are a wide variety of box sets available. Once you start being interested in LvB, you will probably end up owning several sets (and many individual works); they vary greatly in terms of performance style and interpretation.

In recent years, the trend has been to play the works with very fast tempi, based on controversial metronome markings that LvB put on his works. Once of the very best of this new breed is the Zinman:


Note: Amazon has the wrong pic; this is the 5/6 disc, I'm recommending the complete set).

Another trend is to "period " instrumentation; in other words, vintage 1810s designs. One of the best of these is the Gardiner:



If you want a "traditional" sound with modern sonics, here is one of the best:


Note: This set is MUCH cheaper on Amazon.uk as an import.

The Karajan 1963 set (he did three) is a traditional favorite of many, although I personally prefer others ahead of it.



I would get this one before the Karajan (and it also includes the Piano Concerti). This may be the best overall choice for a traditional recording:



Good luck! Feel free to PM me if you'd like more info.

 

Karajan's 9th is one of my favorites...

 

I found a nice Columbia "Beethoven's Greatest Hits" album at the thrift store recently. Very nice variety from his symphonic and chamber works. A lot of fine classical records can be had for pennies at record and thrft stores.

Beethoven's music is wonderful. He was WAY ahead of his time in the early 1800's and composers spend the rest of the century catching up with him.

I recently read, and can recommend a wonderful short biography on Beethoven written a few years ago by Edmund Morris, the well known biographer. It's called Beethoven: The Universal Composer, and discusses his composing in some depth.

Tone

 

For the 5th may I suggest Carlos Kleiber:



For the 9th (there are so many!), I've narrowed it down over the years to these two:


This is the 1977 Karajan 9th, in its Galleria release. Definitely the best IMO.


Sonically it is a disaster, but in terms of performance energy there is nothing that can approach the 1942 Furtwangler 9th, recorded in Nazi Germany. Furtwangler channels so much anger and despair into this interpretation, that even Hitler (who is purported to have been in the audience) would not have missed the message. This is searing indictment of facism, recorded in the midst of the war, and presented in the form of the greatest poem to brotherly good will ever created: Schiller's Ode to Joy.

As a bonus:


For the opposite extreme, try this one: Recorded at the fall of the Berlin Wall. Not my favorite by any means but a moment in history.

The 9th has my vote for the single greatest piece of music ever created (and probably the single greatest artistic work ever created). There is a reason why it has been a part of history since its creation, is beloved literally everyehere on Earth, and is now the anthem of the EU.

 

If you are looking for vinyl, the best performance/sonics version of the 5th is:

MONO: Furtwangler (I think it is on UK EMI early to mid 50's)
STEREO: Kleiber, VPO, on the original 70's German DG label

 

Dig also, if you will, the late string quartets (op. 131, etc.); sublimity.

 

I find these distasteful...he wasn't known for hit singles.

 

Great choices.

 

Wow. Thirteen posts before we get to the string quartets, and we haven't even broached the piano sonatas.
For high rez enthusiasts I recommend the Channel Classics Cello Sonatas (with piano) performed by Peter Wispelwey and Fry St. Quartet's two disc set including one of Beethoven Quartets.
The Janacek Quartet's recordings of Late String Quartets is legendary for its performance.
In a more symphonic vein, there is a Pentatone SACD of the Violin Concerto restored to its original four channel sound. A good performance, and sonically superior.
They symphonies are justifiably popular, and you already have several recommendations.

 

I'm no expert on Beethoven Lieder (and I do get it that this is not what the original poster meant), but the following is a collection that gets pretty high marks from lots of folks. The songs are hardly the heart of the matter for Beethoven, but there are lots of good ones:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Beet...00001GZJ/ref=cm_lmf_tit_2/103-4833061-1814211

L.

P.S. My vote for the late quartets would be the recordings by the Lindsay String Quartet on ASV.

 

Well, not many know this, but he actaully wrote the first version of "Louie, Louie", one day when he was pounding on the Piano in frustration. He later reworked it into "The Fifth"........ DA DA DA DAAAAAA !!!!

 

Hiya Doc,

It turns out you and I were posting about the same time, and only after I had posted did I realize that your recommendation was about the same. LOL!

I guess two Classical-music-on-vinyl fans recommending the same thing (out of literally hundreds, if not thousands, of recordings of this great piece of music) means something.