KLEMPERER conducts Beethoven Symphonies Volume 1 (1957/59) - PASC365

After reviewing Andrew Rose’s disappointing remasterings of Otto Klemperer’s Brahms symphonies for Pristine Audio, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Rose’s versions of the same conductor’s Beethoven symphonies. Happily, the results here are far more successful. Rose states that his objective is to create a sound “had Klemperer and the Philharmonia had a 21st century recording facility to work with.” I’m not sure that’s an entirely realistic goal given the quality of the source material, but Rose endeavors bravely to achieve it. I had on hand Andrew Walter’s 1998 EMI remastering of the Second Symphony for a comparison. The EMI version possesses decidedly better tone color throughout the orchestra. However, the string sound often is congested and there is little or no hall ambience. What’s more, the orchestral balance is not good. Andrew Rose’s remastering is decidedly easier to listen to. The problems of balance are addressed expertly, and the strings clearly inhabit the same space as the rest of the orchestra. Rose has improved the dynamic range, and the spatial extension of the brass is quite impressive. Nevertheless, problems remain. The hall ambience, while clearly better than EMI’s, is too generic. One cannot tell if the recording was made at Kingsway Hall, Abbey Road, or in an aircraft hangar. The string sound at times is papery, not a true representation of the lovely English strings of the Philharmonia. All in all, Andrew Rose has given us a good remastering, yet perhaps only a stopgap on the road to something better in the future.

The performances are legendary. The First, from 1957, is spacious and noble. Although recorded just three weeks earlier, the Second has slightly muddier sound. Klemperer’s interpretation is fiery, with splendid architecture. An interesting contrast is from the live 1958 performance of this work, in very good monaural sound, with the Berlin Radio Symphony in Klemperer’s “Great Conductors of the 20th Century” set. It is not as well played as the studio version, but it is quicker and crackles with nervous energy. As for Klemperer’s 1959 “Eroica,” it features the best sound of all Rose’s remasterings. It is a shattering human document, slower and less quicksilver than the splendid version Klemperer recorded in monaural only four years earlier. Concerning the Coriolan Overture, it could not be bettered. If you are interested in comparable performances to Klemperer’s but with better sound, I would recommend George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra in the first two symphonies, and in the “Eroica,” Hiroshi Wakasugi and the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony. In addition to the “Eroica,” Wakasugi recorded sterling accounts of Bruckner’s Second and Ninth with this orchestra. Andrew Rose’s Klemperer Beethoven is likely to cause considerable discussion among audiophiles. If you already have these performances on CD, I don’t know if you need Rose’s versions. But if you are new to Klemperer in Beethoven, get this set, especially for the outstanding “Eroica.”

Dave Saemann

This article originally appeared in Issue 36:5 (May/June 2013) of Fanfare Magazine.