In celebration of Herbert Blomstedt’s 90th Birthday in July 2017, Accentus Music releases a new Beethoven cycle that captures the spirit of the long-standing partnership between the legendary conductor laureate and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. All nine symphonies, released in a box set containing five CDs, are live recordings made at the Leipzig Gewandhaus between May 2014 and March 2017.
Blomstedt’s interpretations of Beethoven are based on a highly responsible handling of the scores and this conductor’s deep love of the truth, in which everything that is superimposed and overtly effective is fundamentally removed. At the same time however, the performances embrace the ethical conscience of the artist with his deep, almost seismographic musical sensibility and a high expressivity.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and the musical city of Leipzig are closely intertwined with each other: Felix Mendelssohn, Kapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester, made the work an indispensable part of the concert hall repertoire and Arthur Nikisch, one of his successors, established in 1918 the worldwide tradition of performing this groundbreaking and pioneering work at the end of the year. The phenomenal Herbert Blomstedt, Gewandhaus-kapellmeister from 1998 to 2005, once again conducted Beethoven’s Ninth in Leipzig for the 2016 New Year celebrations.
With his former orchestra, of which he has been Conductor Laureate since 2005 and with whom he enjoys a close friendship, he achieves a gripping interpretation of this monumental work. Under the direction of Blomstedt, together with his excellent musicians, the choirs, and an outstanding quartet of soloists led by the magnificent voice of Christian Gerhaher, the utopia of global freedom and humanity in Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” penned in Leipzig in 1785, grows to overwhelming dimensions.
„Blomstedt holds a long pause before the inevitable ovation and in that moment, and indeed illuminating his leadership of the whole symphony as the film direction often lets us see, there is something very like radiance.“ (Gramophone)
Tracklist:
01. Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21: I. Adagio Molto. Allegro Con Brio 08:46
02. Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21: II. Andante Cantabile Con Moto 07:35
03. Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21: III. Allegro Molto E Vivace 04:02
04. Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21: IV. Finale. Adagio. Allegro Molto E Vivace 05:44
05. Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36: I. Adagio. Allegro Con Brio 12:14
06. Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36: II. Larghetto 10:41
07. Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36: III. Scherzo 04:25
08. Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36: IV. Allegro Molto 06:20
09. Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 “Eroica”: I. Allegro Con Brio 16:22
10. Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 “Eroica”: II. Adagio Assai 14:52
11. Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 “Eroica”: III. Scherzo 6:00
12. Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 “Eroica”: IV. Finale: Allegro Molto 11:29
13. Symphony No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 60: I. Adagio. Allegro Vivace 11:14
14. Symphony No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 60: II. Adagio 09:07
15. Symphony No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 60: III. Allegro Molto E Vivace 05:38
16. Symphony No. 4 in B-Flat Major, Op. 60: IV. Allegro Ma Non Troppo 06:42
17. Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67: I. Allegro Con Brio 07:29
18. Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67: II. Andante Con Moto 09:41
19. Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67: III. Allegro 05:16
20. Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67: IV. Allegro 11:10
21. Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 “Pastoral”: I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo 11:31
22. Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 “Pastoral”: II. Andante Molto Moto 12:04
23. Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 “Pastoral”: III. Allegro 05:27
24. Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 “Pastoral”: IV. Allegro 03:54
25. Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 “Pastoral”: V. Allegretto 09:57
26. Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: I. Poco Sostenuto. Vivace 14:33
27. Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: II. Allegretto 08:15
28. Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: III. Presto 08:56
29. Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: IV. Allegro Con Brio 08:53
30. Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93: I. Allegro Vivace E Con Brio 08:49
31. Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93: II. Allegretto Scherzando 03:57
32. Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93: III. Tempo Di Minuetto 04:34
33. Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93: IV. Allegro Vivace 07:27
34. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral”: I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo E Un Poco Maestoso 14:48
35. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral”: II. Molto Vivace. Presto 13:46
36. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral”: III. Adagio Molto E Cantabile. Andante Moderato 13:22
37. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral”: IV. Finale. Presto 23:36
Personnel
Simona Šaturová, soprano
Mihoko Fujimura, alto
Christian Elsner, tenor
Christian Gerhaher, baritone
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
MDR Rundfunkchor
GewandhausChor & GewandhausKinderchor
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
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