Ludwig van Beethoven: 9 Symphonien

Customer Rating:
Summary: powerful
Comment: It is fashionable to deprecate Von Karajan - maybe because of his Nazi youth. But this set of the Symphonies excels. Only the 9th feels a bit messy. There are no better recordings of the 2nd, 6th, and 4th that I have heard. It's all thrilling from the very start. If you're looking for a set, you won't find a better, unless it's Bohm.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Simply the best
Comment: If you are looking for recording, his last cycle is the choice (Digital), but if you are looking for performance, then you should pick this cycle. Simply the best !!!

Customer Rating:
Summary: Big set that is grossly over-hyped.
Comment: This collection in some bizarre way became "standard" version of force-fed Beethoven. It is well recorded but I prefer fresher and less pompous interpretations.
I especially liked this Beethoven Symphonies 1,2,3,4,5,6 and Art Galleries of the Time, 2DVDs+3CDs Ultimate MosaicDVD Collection
Beethoven's music is full of emotions but when it is overturned with grotesque oversized, overemphasized emotions the entire performance sound hysterical.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Exciting and engrossing recordings
Comment: I have enjoyed listening to Karajan's 1963 set ever since I bought it on sale at the Record Hunter in New York in the late 1980's. I don't find the renditions unemotional as some do. The performances are fast and dramatic. To some the sixth is too fast, but the slower tempos we have become accustomed to are only received tradition just as phlegmatic renditions of Bruckner's symphonies were once the norm. The performances often have the drive more typical of early music versions of classic works, except the pieces are being played by a larger orchestra than would have been common before the twentieth century. They are powerful renditions but not heavy-handed or turgid.
As in his recordings for DG of the Brahms and Schumann symphonies, Karajan also shows his ability to shape passages. Long acquiantance with a score enables a conductor to do that. A distinct plus is the sound is excellent.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Okay! Good for a preference recording
Comment: It's very well played, well recorded, very standard for general audience or listeners. It's very Karajan. It's nice and pleasant to listen to. Nothing is deep, nothing is special, and overall, very boring and forgettable. I bought this set when I was still a music student. It was good when I needed to listen for study in a Beethoven Symphony class. But now I don't touch it any more.
Kleiber (Eric for #3, and Carlos for #4, #5, and #7), Walter, and Gardiner are among my favorite. They are all different but all wonderfully and amazingly memorable.