Search - Beethoven, Toscanini, BBC Symphony Orchestra :: Symphonies 1 & 4

Toscanini and charm?

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 01/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Toscanini's Beethoven performances have become legend. This CD couples two symphonies and an overture he recorded with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the late 1930s. These 1937 and 1939 performances have always commended themselves to music lovers since they were first released on 78s. The word "charm" comes to mind as you listen to the First Symphony, a word not usually associated with a rigid, top-gear Toscanini performance. That is not to say that speeds are necessarily slacker; indeed the Menuetto is faster than in any other Toscanini recorded performance I have heard. There is a repeat in the second movement. Produced originally by Lawrance Collingwood and recorded in London's Queen's Hall, the digital remastering and transfers have been done by Michael J Dutton."