Classical music reviews

This passion is extremely beautiful, intense and dense. But its starting at the moment when Christ is arrested erases from the story the last supper and the message of optimism about the future that comes before and along the trial. It also erases a great part of the prophecy that comes from the Old Testament and that is spoken by Christ, both a prophecy that says what he is going to suffer, and a prophecy about what his own suffering is going to bring to the world. What's more Jesus is extremely pugnacious in this passion. He defends himself, he uses logical arguments to prove his point and his innocence, and yet he knows it is in vain, but he does not submit without a legal fight. The third element that characterizes this passion is the extreme violence that is imposed onto Christ. It is the only passion, it is derived from the only gospel in which Christ carries his cross. His suffering is by far more explicit and more extreme in this passion that in the three others, in this gospel than in the three others. In this passion those responsible for the death of Christ are clearly identified : they are the High Priests, the members of the Council of the Temple, and particularly Caiphas who feels unrest among the people and wants to prevent it by killing one man as an example. Bach uses his choruses to impersonate the High Priests, the soldiers or the crowd. The music then becomes systematically hysterical expressing political calculation or just frenzy. Ton Koopman uses these choruses in too soft a way : he does not get to the frantic atmosphere they can express : he gives a simple image of mass-disorder. This then justifies the criticism that this passion may be seen as antisemitic, which it is not if the emphasis is put on the political plot of the High Priests and the use by them of the collective frenzy the crowd is driven into by the high priests themselves. What's more and finally, this passion is by far the most dramatic one, the one that uses dramatic means to give life to many scenes, like the arrest, the trial, the crucifixion and what happens from the sixth hour to the ninth hour. We can even think the dialogue is dramatic in a way and is not a plain story told to us. Finally this passion, and the gospel behind, is heavily presented as a direct and eye testimony of what happened and John gives a great quantity of details to emphasize this live rendition of the sacrifice of Jesus and the sadistic opportunistic violence of those who watch and enjoy the show, because it is a show for them.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

This Passion, like all Passions by J.S. Bach are church operas without any setting. The story is a real plot. The use of voices and chorus are operatical. The lyricism of the music and the singing is undeniable. We are here in total continuity with old biblical operas from the Midlle Ages and the Renaissance. The first important element is that Bach finds a refuge and a compensation in his music for the hardness and hardships of his life : the loss of a job, the next job which is far from being ideal and good in Leipzig, the mercantile city that is not exactly art-minded, the loss of a wife and his second wife who has to drop her singing career. Bach is thus personally motivated in his depicting of the suffering of Jesus. The second element is the tremendous fluidity of the language and the use of the music of the German language of the text to sustain and enhance the music itself. At this level we can even hear from time to time what will be characteristic of the great German deeply sombre and dramatic operas of the 19th century, from Beethoven to Wagner or even further on. I will not cover all aspects of this Passion but I will insist on two particular levels. Bach punctuates his Passion with the use of the chorus and this chorus gives the deep meaning of the Passion itself. This Passion has often been accused of being antisemitic. If we listen to the chorus carefully, we are far from that. The chorus is used in four different directions. First it takes the form of a psalm of a hymn and it opens to some kind of heavenlike reflection by the modern audience. Second it represents the crowd of the Jews or the High Priests. Then it becomes a chaotic canon or fugue on a popular music that wants to express the frenzy of the crowd, to illustrate the famous saying of Jesus : � Forgive them father because they do not know what they are doing �. This crowd is beside themselves, they have lost their selfcontrol. They are irresponsible. Third it may even represent the joy of a modern and popular crowd in front of the realization of the prediction like in � Sei gegrusset, lieber Judenk�nig ! �. Finally it also represents the soldiers for example sharing Jesus's clothes. Then it expresses greed and totally unconscious brutality or beastlike cecity. There is no accusation against the Jews. They were manipulated by the high priests, by Pilate, and they also were out of their minds, in other words carrying out God's decision without knowing it. This explains the very strange declaration: � Der Held aus Juda siegt mit Macht, and schliesst den Kampf �. Jesus is a hero, Jesus wins the battle, Jesus conquers power and Jesus ends the fight, which means he gets the world on his side at the very moment of his death. No antisemitism at this moment since the fight is finished, hence there is no reason to fight against the Jews any more. And that's what the � Ruht wohl � means and expresses in a beautiful Tenebrae turned upside down into a lullaby, transforming the descent into darkness of the Tenebrae into an ascent into light of this famous piece of music and singing. Death becomes a desired passage from strife to calm humility and submission to the longed-for liberation and regeneration. In other words Bach is calling for peace on earth, peace and order, in Germany like elsewhere, human reasonable governing of things after the long period of war that is just in the process of coming to a close. Bach is a pacifist and a social peacemaker at the end of an extremely troubled period.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan

It's hard to go wrong with Koopman. This is a beautiful recording, with great sensitivity shown in many finely wrought and shaped musical phrases. (By the way, don't buy ANY John Gardiner Bach, they are absurdly too fast in tempi, articulated like a loud ticking clock, and phrases are rarely shaped.) This may be the best available recording of this wonderful work, which has been neglected in the shadow of the St. Matthew Passion. The other fine version is by Karl Ritcher, I believe.
But you will not regret buying this marvelous one.

The Bach transcriptions written by Stokowski are among the most exciting presentations of Bach's music in the classical music repertoire. For one just hearing Bach for the first time this is a great introduction. For the serious listener it is pure joy. These, however, are not necessarily for the Bach purist.

One of the greatest recordings in the cannon - even better due to the spectacular mix on this remastered issue. This soul-baring music must be heard, and heard at top, almost painful volume to realize how transcendent these transcriptions really are - earth-shaking and primal. Stokowski was one of the all-time, all-time greats - and to my ear - this recording is his best ever.

As a professional classical musician and deep lover of the works of J.S. Bach, I believe these transcriptions and performances of his works would have greatly pleased the master. This album is a magnificent work; especially, but not limited to, the incredible full orchestra arrangement of the most famous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. It will simply take your breath away with its awesome majesty. You will not regret purchasing this!

Ira Stein has been a creative and very individual musician since his first releases on Windham Hill. His work on Narada Records further matured his artistic vision and he is now taking a first step with this album, Bach Chorals, to continue his musical expression regardless of what the music industry might find acceptable at the moment. He comes from a musical tradition that many people may not be familiar with but that deserves recognition.The group Oregon (Ralph Towner, Paul McCandless, and others) lay an important foundation for Stein's musical discoveries and his latest explorations into the sacred world of Bach's Chorals shows that he is an artist that deserves to be watched and followed. He is a great musician, a free spirit and a very creative arranger. Keep an eye out for his music in the years to come...

I am Ira Stein's niece, and I have listened to all of his C.D.'s and been to many of his concerts at Yoshi's in Oakland, CA. I think all of his recordings are very good. I really like his new C.D., BACH IMPROVISATIONS. I am 11 years old, and I have enjoyed his music all my life. He plays for me when I visit him in Oakland from my home of 2 years in Portland, OR. He has been playing piano for over 25 years. He is really an example that if you love something and try hard at it, you will succeed.

I had the privilege to be present at Yoshi's the night this album was recorded. Everyone there was held spellbound by this music--which is classic and yet modern. Each piece begins with the Bach chorale statement and then these excellent musicians take the melodies present in every level of Bach and make concert jazz. My favorite is number four on the album "Hilf, Herr Jesu, lass gelingen," but the listener cannot go wrong with any of the nine numbers. The instrument combination of piano, cello and soprano saxophone is unusual to me, and I think it would surprise Bach also; but I also believe this is an exceptional way to get an appreciation of the beauty of the classical line while enjoying the modern presentation. The music is decorous and sensual at the same time--a most intriguing mix.

I have always been in awe of the later works of Bach and I am partial to this recording of the Goldberg Variations(being a string player myself). These transcriptions, have enhanced my perception of the dialog (trialog, tetralog!) between the various voices, especially in the canonic variations. That one could conceive of music that is so complex, yet with an economy that allows it to be performed by a single person, has left me more in awe of the consummate genius that is Bach.

The Goldberg Variations are well known for their hypnotic, intricate melodies. In this transcription from piano to orchestra, these melodies come alive. I love the music, and have owed the CD since it was first released. My baby has also enjoyed listening to it - and responds to the music far more, in fact, than he responded to Mozart. So, recently, I purchased another copy for my nephew, who seemed fascinated by the music during the holidays.

A great way to listen to Bach and understand his genius!

I too was inspired by Richard Powers' "Goldbug Variations" to purchase an arrangement of Bach's Variations. I ended up with this one, being partial to full strings over harpischord or piano... (I listened to clips of each in Barnes & Noble, and think you are better off with this version). You still hear a hint of Harpischord on some tracks. It's not Bach's best work, but is still beautifully and intelligently written, and this particular recording is flawless. Each variation is given its own track, which you may not get on other recordings, and each is distiguishable from the last. I listen to this as I read the book... and stop when the music ends, lest I'll never put it down. This CD plays for exactly one hour, which I think is quite perfect.

This is a fairly good recording of the St. Matthew Passion, but it is fairly perfunctory, not as heart-felt as, say, the Rilling version. "You are playing the notes, but not the music" (Pablo Casals), it seems here, to me at least.

This Naxos version of the St. Matthew Passion (Highlights) is a masterpiece of choral, duet and solo artistry.

Period instruments (recorder, oboe, strings) are used throughout.

The recording is clear and vibrant. The musicians are at their fullest. The composition is versatile, expressive and carries the story to a great degree. There is four-part harmony of ancient German hymns deftly placed at various intervals.

I especially enjoyed the soprano duets but the bass solos rival any others on any other CD. The diction (German) is the finest you can find on Amazon.

Given the subject matter of the CD, much is not most of it is in a minor key. The choir is very apt and delivers the content in fine fashion. The soprano section is strong and offsets and complements the other sections well.

This is truly a Naxos production of the highest order. It is the Hungarian Festival Choir and the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra. Playing time is 75'13". It was recorded in February of 1993.

Extracts from the huge operas of Wagner are notoriously dismissed as 'bleeding chunks', but the damage done to the work of JS Bach is even more violent, a composer for whom precise, intricate architecture and musical expression are synonymous. this violence is compounded in a narrative work like 'St Matthew passion', where the most 'extractable' bits have little to do with the story, which is carried by the less glamorous recitative. By removing the narrative power of the recitative, the impact of the many beautiful choruses and arias, commenting on the action and affirming Christian faith in this traumatic ritual, is diluted.

However, the cash/credit-strapped like myself will have to make do with this set, especially since Naxos seem to have withdrawn their full 3-CD version. The compilers reverse the usual practice by favouring arias over choruses, presumably because the non-recitative choruses are pretty uniform, or maybe because the Hungarian State Choir aren't quite up to the soloists or musicians - the famous opening chorus, hurling us immediately into the anguish, piercing flutes shattering the grieving choir, is a little sluggish, although the mirroring final chorus, flute-free, in which confusion and despair have given way to resignation and hope, is much better.

The arias, however, are little miracles of sensitive playing. These can be divided into two types: stark pieces, in which the soloist is accompanied by a single dominant instrument over a disturbing bass; or those with string or orchestral accompaniment. Some of these latter are like mini-Brandenburg concertos; no. 39, lamenting Peter's betrayal, mourning violins over descending bass, is as moving as Albinoni's similar 'Adagio'. These apparently simple pieces constantly change tempo and mood, so charged are they with emotion - the long lines of no. 6 interrupted by staccato weeping; no. 8, responding to Judas' introduction, has a bass slithering like a serpant; no. 27 breaks down the clarity of earlier arias to deal with Judas' betrayal, culminating in a jagged choral curse, spewing out the Hell they invoke.

you could of course complain about what's left out (my own favourites are arias nos. 49 and 57, the latter a goose-pimpling viola de gamba solo), but hopefully this compilation will encourage listeners to seek out the whole Passion, and submit to one of the most overpowering experiences art can offer.

I first bought this CD looking to "get into classical music." I knew next to nothing about classical, but I knew that Bach was simply the best composer there ever was, or at least he was up there. So I grabbed this CD, listened to it three times, and have never let it collect dust in the six years I've owned it.

Blysma displays an absolute natural ability (and agility) in focusing the genius of Bach's Suites for Cello. His command of the instrument is astounding (the same sort of proficiency Bronfman displays with Rachmaninoff, or Edgar Meyer with himself).

He excels, particularily, in the sleight-of-hand triple-string harmonies that Bach somewhat invented in his suites. And yet nothing suffers in the bow attack, he rips into the strings, slaps his fingers against the neck. You can hear them thudding against the cello through the whole CD, certainly an audio glimpse into the confidence of Blysma's playing. I suppose in order to play these pieces successfully (not being a cello-player myself), you need the utmost confidence, besides an extra joint or two in the left hand. Blysma shies not away.

I've heard so many "genius" recordings where the Prelude to Suite no. 1 is carried off in metronome fashion. You could set a watch to Yo-Yo Ma's recording, and if that's your cup of tea, get cranking. Blysma seems to decide for a little variation, and infuses, not pauses, but the illusion of pauses, letting his fingers do the vibrato to end the note quickly, or lifting with his bow quickly. The result is a phrasing so subtle and genuine that it's impossible to get over. Just what does Blysma see in the suites that no one else does?

My favorite is Suite no. 2; especially the beginning of Allemande, where Blysma digs the bow into the strings for that three-note opener. Then the yearning begins, and suddenly Blysma grows a third arm and another cello (it literally sounds like a duet in places). The Menuet movement is to me the climax of the disc, sort of a cello reflection; as if the notes look inward to themselves and examine the space they occupy. If all this sounds like rubbish then perhaps I've listened too much.

Whatever, the recording is bulletproof and an absolute must for any cello player/student of music. With Blysma you start to see how the strands of interpretation work; and that is, a telepathy between performer and composer. Let the goosebumps begin.

More familiar names like Ma, Rostropovich, or Casals are often mentioned as recommendations for recordings of Bach's glorious cello suites, and rightly so. Don't overlook Anner Bylsma's interpretations, though. They easily hold their own with or surpass more famous ones.

A seasoned figure of the period performance movement, Bylsma offers us some wonderful music-making here. He beautifully balances the cool calculation and rhapsodic, improvisational feel of these pieces. These are fundamentally warm, fleet, lyrical interpretations, yet they certainly don't neglect the more stringent, austere, solemn elements of the works. Bylsma's 1669 Venetian instrument has a pleasingly dry, light tone and is well recorded in a spacious church acoustic.

I haven't heard Bylsma's more recent recordings of the suites, but based on these recordings, I'd sure love to.

When I first listened to this recording of Anner Bylsma playing the entire 6 suites of Bach, I was amazed! It takes me back on a little trip to Germany back in the 1700's, when Bach originally wrote this piece. It's very authentic and on a more Baroque approach--which is my own personal preference. There are so many cellists who tend to play Bach on a more romantic or modernized approach. I like this album mainly because it's the way Bach should be played.

This must be the last Beethoven cycle that one should get(after trying Karajan and Bernstein and Bohm and .... otherwise you might not like others who are also good enough ); then only you can judge why this is the best. The sound quality is not as great as the others (sadly) and it is mono (who cares..!!) but any classical collection is incomplete without this. Particularly the ninth one is sublime.It tears everything apart,devastates the world,and without hope, without belief,reconstructs the world. A must have for anyone...

I can't add much to the superlatives already expressed below except to quote the one and only Maria Callas while listening to a recording of the 8th symphony in a taxi and immediately recognizing the interpreter, "Furtwangler was Beethoven." You are not likely to hear this type of interpretation again, fully romantic, fully integrated and fully Beethoven. Truly inspired readings from the soul of Furtwangler and Beethoven. This has been remastered with EMI's ART technology and released in Europe (CHS 567496-2). The sound is considerably better, especially in Nos. 2 & 8. You might find more critically acclaimed individual interpretations of the symphonies, but as a whole, this is very impressive. Enjoy!

This is the best music I have ever listened to. Soul-stirring, heavenly music. The music so touched my soul when I first listened to it - I cried. I listen to these symphonies everyday playing the CDs in their sequence one after another. Surely, like one reviewer I read before I bought these CDs said - "one can hear Beethoven" in these CDs.I keep thinking that this must be the way Beethoven wanted his symphonies to be played. I have two other sets of Beethoven's 9 symphonies conducted by two very famous conductors but these cannot compare with Furtwangler's version of the symphonies. I have not heard of Furtwangler before I scanned through Beethoven's music at Amazon.com. as he was a conductor in an earlier period. I feel blessed that somehow through Amazon.com.,I have been made aware of his version. I am now buying my second set of these CDs. The way I am carrying on playing these CDs everyday, I know that sometime they will wear out. I never want to be without them - they are a treasure.

No doubt quite good interpretations. They are non the less also some of the most peculiar. That is perhaps partly due to the engineering, the ambience of the sound, but also to the playing style. This quartet sounds different from all other quartets I have ever heard. The bow on the strings often sounds very ugly, like somebody filing some metal. It is something feverish about it, at the same time something frail. It makes me think of sunshine stinging in the eyes. Suffice it to say that it is nothing fleshy about the sound of this quartet. Tempi are mostly brisk, the touch is light - in spite of the filing sound, which also can be described as a thin, withered, squeaky sound. Summa summarum: This quartet gives a so peculiar atmosphere to the Beethoven quartets that it is no point in comparing to other quartets, just as summer cannot feel like winter. This is summer. Summer heat, sultry, close, smoky, of barbeque or rubbish fire of withered leaves... I feel that these recordings are quite aristocratic, of very good taste, delicate, intimate. This has nothing to do with "old world", as both the Alban Berg quartet and Quartetto Italiano are (were?) "old world" and yet a far cry from Talich. I love to have this one in my collection, because it gives something not any other quartet gives. Not my first choice, however, I would rather go for Tak�cs (op. 18), Tak�cs or Tokyo (middle quartets). To me, Tokyo rules when it comes to the late quartets, but that's me. I guess most people will prefer the Tak�cs quartet all the way, with the exception of the Quartetto Italiano congregation. Talich is something special, but very good as such.

I really can't understand the previous comment about "period instruments". The instruments used for these interpretations ARE such:

Violin : Petr Messiereur (Peter Guarnerius, 1703)
Violin : Jan Kvapil (Laurentius Guadagnini, 1741)
Viola : Jan Talich (Laurentius Guadagnini, 1742)
Cello : Evzen Rattay (Stradivarius, 1690)

"Of course", this information is not available at the poor booklet that comes with the box.
I think this recording is one of the greatest around, right after the legendary Vlach and Vegh interpretations- which are, quite unfortunately, both rather poorly recorded.
This cycle is both finely recorded (analogue at its best) and fantastically interpreted- so it deserves 6 stars for the preformance and 2 stars for the package. The average does not sum up to 5, but I do give 5 stars, simply because a better compromise is simply impossible to find...

There's no need for italics when playing Beethoven. The music will speak for itself just fine, and that's just the approach Talich has chosen. These guys are as good, technically speaking, as anybody but what stands out is how unassuming they are. None of that "look Ma, see how fast I can play" that we get from the Emersons. Anyway, this is the set for you. Yes, I've heard others -- Italiano, Budapest, Guarneri, and Tokyo -- and the Talich has them beat across the full cycle of 16.

When you buy a CD like this, the one thing you expect of the artist is to nail the intro to Toccata and Fugue In D Minor, Bach's great masterwork and the lead piece on the CD. Unfortunately, the organist plays the intro robotically, truncating notes and overextending pauses. He rushes some passages so badly in the intro that one cannot distinguish the melodic line. Toccata and Fugue In D Minor is so musically advanced that it sounds modern even today, but you miss that with this recording.

Peter Hurford is perhaps one of the foremost organists of his time. He has not only studied music but law as well, giving a scholarly twist on his education. I have always been pleased by his interpretations of Bach. They are no-nonsense, with strict tempos, clean, accurate passages, and registrations which are very lush and vibrant. For the new fan of Bach, there is no better place to start, as this set contains all of the "big" organ pieces for which Bach became legendary, as well as a few well-known chorale preludes. For those who wish to explore Bach's organ contributions in more detail, buy Hurford's complete Bach recordings (Although I believe it is out of print or very hard to obtain, as I have not yet found one). If this is the case, buy Marie-Claire Alain's version on Erato. No two organists understand Bach better.

What to say about these extraordinary works?

First of all, that this is a double-album full of titanic masterworks, intelligently and skillfully performed. These discs belong amongst the first four or five albums in every Bach collection. The famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor is here, together with another, lesser-known but equally awe-inspiring "Dorian" Toccata and Fugue in D minor. There are quite a few other familiar war-horses---the Prelude and Fugue in A minor, the St. Anne Prelude and Fugue, and the Tocatta, Adagio, and Fugue in C (which I first encountered in a piano transcription performed by Evgeny Kissin, on his album with the Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition... well worth hearing next to the original organ writing here), among others---and some more obscure pieces as well to keep us out of "greatest hits" territory (almost always a drawback in recital albums). Like the Mozart piano concerti and the Beethoven symphonies, Bach's compositions for organ are amongst the towering summits of Western music; there is nothing else like them.

Since I'm playing critic here, I suppose I ought to offer at least a bit of actual criticism, rather than only effusive praise. While many would beg to differ, three composers (whose careers, interestingly, were almost exactly chronologically contiguous) are, by a long-standing historical consensus, recognized to occupy the highest tier of artistic achievement in "common practice," tonal music: Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. Of those three masters, Mozart alone is recognized as having achieved a perfect or near-perfect balance between subject and object, style and substance: Bach tipped the balance just a bit in favor of objectivity and substance, and Beethoven in favor of subjectivity and style. And so, just as I find that Beethoven's music does not hold up quite as well as Mozart's to repeated listenings because his stylistic and emotive devices are less effective once you've heard them before, so that they no longer take you by surprise, so too do I find that Bach's music, especially in the long contrapuntal sections, is not always as worthwhile for listening as it is for theoretical analysis... it is perhaps not quite as valuable in practice as it is in theory, in other words. The organ pieces on these discs are sublime masterpieces, but if they do fall short of absolute perfection it is for being somewhat dry and academic.

In addition, the different organs Herford plays here so often produce, as good organs will, such a staggering, chest-rumbling roar that you have trouble discerning the pitches in these compositions. It's a similar problem to listening to harpsichord music, where at times you hear just a lot of clanging and can't tell what note or chord is being played. It's not a big problem on these recordings, but it is a little distracting at times.

Nevertheless, it's said that what makes a work of art a masterpiece is not its being perfect or flawless, but rather that its virtues are so meaningful and effective that they compensate for the piece's flaws and imperfections. In fact, in sublime pieces such as these, it's precisely that imbalance, or aesthetic asymmetry, you might say, that makes the music dynamic and exciting: it creates an inner tension, a sort of yearning or striving that, in the hands of the greatest of masters (of which Bach is uncontestably one), makes for a transcendent artistic statement and an invaluable testament to the human experience.

In short, buy this album and listen to it often!

Until recently, I believe Masur's cycle has been the only commercially available collection of the overtures, so it has (by default) been the standard. A number of people would consider this to be the definitive collection, but I think serious consideration has to be given to Zinman's new release of the complete overtures with the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, which takes a significantly different approach to the overtures.

Is the performance Masur and the Leipzig Gewandhaus great and definitive? Certainly the orchestra sounds typically lush throughout, but the overtures at times seem ponderous & almost soggy. The rather arch quality of the brass section can really detract from the overall performance at times, and who really can ignore the appallingly out of tune winds section in the 2nd Leonore? The performances are generally good but they only occasionally approach greatness.

Marriner & the ASMF turn in an outstanding performance, but I don't think anyone is buying this collection for the Minuets, German Dances, and Contradances, which are expertly rendered, Haydnesque tunes, but which are hardly an example of Beethoven pushing the envelope. Noone will ever mistake this for being nice, incidental music of little significance. These pieces will only matter to those collectors in search of a totally complete Beethoven collection.

Still, this is a reasonable collection for the price, and one could certainly do worse where the performances are concerned.

Once again, the Phillips Label has released another great collection of classical music for any devotee. This is the complete collection of Beethoven's overtures. In truth, and technically speaking, there is only one true overture on this recording- the Overtures to Leonore/Fidelio, Beethoven's only opera. The rest, while still dubbed "overtures" by musicologists, remain in the "incidental music" department. They are brilliantly performed by the expert orchestra of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, the oldest orchestra in the world and one of the finest in Europe. The principal conductor in this 2 disc recording is Kurt Masur, though the final tracks are courtly dances- German Dances and Contredanses, in a kind of homage to Mozart, and are performed by The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields conducted by the virtuoso Neville Marriner.

The Coriolan Overture is an appropriate opening track, with its compelling orchestral fortissimi and romantic style. It is followed by the Egmont Overture, and this is pure Beethovenesque romanticism. The King Stephen Overture tops off these incidental musical scores, which Beethoven had annotated with a particular story or idea. To Beethoven, music was poetry/drama, his theories foreshadowed the later Wagner who would write that "Poetry is the reason for music and drama is the reason for both." Theese are all superb pieces of music, and any true fan of Beethoven should own these along with his 9 symphonies. The other "program" overtures include Ruins of Athens, which even contains chorus, Name-Day Celebration Overture and Consecration of the House, which was a commission given to Beethoven for music for the social event of the opening of a new theater, a theater which still stands intact in Austria.

While Kurt Masur is brilliant, he finds that he has an equal in the other featured conductor Sir Neville Marriner, who just happens to be the more famous of the two. Marriner conducted his Academy of St Martin in the Fields for the soundtrack to the 1984 film Amadeus, about the life of Mozart. Marriner has long been associated with conducting Classical and Baroque repertoire, keeping faithful to the original scores. The German Dances are jubilant and a pleasure to hear as are the Contredances, both which number 12 in total. This is a great recording to add to your Beethoven collection. I highly recommend it.

Masur's recordings of Beethoven's overtures (complete) stand out from a crowded field. They have a drive and intensity that grab your attention and don't let go. After playing them for the first time, I had to immediately play them again. And now they are available at a bargain price. You owe it to yourself to hear them.