Ludwig van Beethoven – Complete Incidental Music To Goethe's Egmont
Rarity - Sealed
Ludwig van Beethoven – Complete Incidental Music To Goethe's Egmont
Narrator - Franz Grillparzer
Soprano Vocals - Pilar Lorengar
Orchestra - Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor - George Szell
1LP, standard sleeve
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g Virgin Vinyl
Record color : Black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Pallas
Label : Speakers Corner
Original Label : Decca
Recorded in the Sofiensaal, Vienna
Originally released in 1970
Reissued in 1998
Tracks :
Side A
- Overture
- Lied: Vivace "Die Trommel Gerhuert!"
- Zwischenakt I: Andante
- Zwischenakt I I: Larghetto
Side B
- Lied: Andanta Con Moto "Freudvoll Und Leidvoll"
- Zwischenakt I I I: Allegro - Marcia, Vivace
- Zwischenakt I V: Pop Sostenuto E Risoluto
- Klarchens Tod: Larghetto
- Melodrama: Poco Sostenuto
- Siegessymphonie: Allegro Con Brio
Reviews:
“When Vienna's Royal Imperial Court Theater decided to stage poet and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play Egmont in 1810 (thirty years after Goethe wrote it), they asked Beethoven to write the incidental music for it. Today, we don't see much of the play or the full score of the music, although the Overture has a remained a staple of the classical repertoire.
The play itself is rather melodramatic, and Maestro Szell and the magnificent Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra play it up not only for maximum dramatic effect but for it subtlety as well. By comparison to other conductors in the work, Szell and the VPO are more highly charged in their music making. In other words, you'll find the opening Overture powerful, the march to the execution emotionally draining, and the closing "Victory Symphony" thrilling, with the quieter interludes in between totally charming.
Soloist Pilar Lorengar cannot be faulted, her singing voice in the several vocal numbers exquisitely sweet and pure yet appropriately forceful. I hadn't remembered that the Szell disc included so much of the narration between each number, and narrator Klaus-Jurgen Wussow is positively inspired; I don't speak a word of German (the booklet insert contains translations), yet I loved just listening to the man speak. What with the orchestra's lofty playing, the soloist's poignant performances, and Szell's sublime conducting, this is a disc gets my highest-possible recommendation.
As far as Decca's sound is concerned, recorded in the Sofiensaal, Vienna, it is highly dynamic, very clean, and exceptionally clear, with strong dynamics, a wide stereo spread, a solid impact, and a quick transient response. The orchestra is never unduly hard, harsh, or forward, the orchestral soundstage lacking perhaps only the last degree of depth and ambience. Although Ms. Lorengar's voice is a touch metallic at times, this is hardly even a quibble on my part.” Classical Candor Review
Ratings :
Discogs : 4.5 / 5