Abbado/VPO: Beethoven Sym Nos. 2 & 5 (rec. "live" 1987) - DG 423 590-1

$

65

ITEM DESCRIPTION:

This beautiful LP – a superb collector’s copy – from Deutsche Grammophon (423 590-1, German pressing, white circle label, DDD stereo) features Claudio Abbado and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's resplendent accounts of Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 2 in D Major Op. 26 and No. 5 in C minor Op. 67, warmly recorded 'live' in the rich acoustics of the Musikvereinssaal in February 1987 and October 1987, respectively (producer: Günther Breest / recording supervision: Werner Mayer / engineer: Karl-August Naegler).

 

Though Abbado's more recent Berlin Philharmonic Beethoven Symphony cycle has rightly won widespread acclaim and garnered numerous awards, his earlier VPO traversal, more expansive and interpretatively daring, remains under-rated and only grows in stature with repeated hearing. Abbado's VPO Beethoven Op. 92 is one of the great Seventh's on disc, well within the ranks of Furtwangler (BPO), Toscanini (NYPO), and, for this listener, Munch (RCA, 1949). The Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth are also wonderfully brought off, and if ensemble playing isn't always as secure as it would be in Berlin, there is nonetheless a tremendous sense of occasion, as befitting 'live' performance – this is a great Beethoven cycle – period.

 

The extraordinary cover art reproduces a detail from Gustav Klimt’s “Nagender Kummer” (“Consuming Grief”), held at the Österreichische Galerie, Vienna.

 

On the reverse side of the jacket there are liner notes in German (by Prof. Dr. Volker Scherliess), in French (Marie-Pierre Lassus) and in English and Italian (by Martin Cooper).

 

CONDITION – PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

 

The condition of the jacket is near-MINT. There is some minuscule wear along the open edge of the jacket, but that is all. Otherwise, the album appears virtually as new – overall, this rates as an outstanding collector’s copy.

 

The condition of the LP is near-MINT and the playback is superb – overall, this rates as a truly fine collector’s copy.

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