Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Erich Kleiber, NBC Symphony Orchestra :: Beethoven: Sinfonie 4 & 5; Egmont ouverture

Great Performance, Poor Sound

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 07/06/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Erich Kleiber, father of Carlos, was truly one of the great conductors of the 20th Century. This disc features live recordings of Beethoven -- the 4th Symphony with the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam from 1950, and the 5th Symphony and the Egmont Overture with the NBC Symphony Orchestra from 1948. The performances are quite impressive but the mono sound is rather poor with noticeable tape hiss, not to mention plenty of coughing and throat-clearing from the audience. The Urania label advertises a number of rare historical recordings, but I have yet to find one that warrants its price tag, considering the sound quality. Other labels like Testament, Dutton, Naxos Historical, and even Classica D'Oro offer a consistently better product. And if what you want is a high quality disc of Erich Kleiber conducting Beethoven, get the Decca Legends disc of the 3rd and 5th Symphonies."