Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton Bruckner, George Szell :: Szell - Beethoven/Bruckner

Passion and Fire

R. C. Ross | Birmingham | 03/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can see no reason why the previous reviewer dismissed these powerful and fiery performances. He refers to what he calls their `awful' sound. But even listening through excellent quality headphones the sound is thoroughly acceptable - clear, bright and detailed, and nice to hear Szell's subtle vocal contributions!



The accusation that the Dresden Staatskapelle play poorly is also very wide of the mark. This was a world-class orchestra and Szell simply would never tolerate sloppy playing. They play with passion and precision. The brass are splendid, cutting through the textures with real excitement, the woodwind show great character and the string sound is happily free from the obese over-richness of certain other great German orchestras of the time! There's real fission to the playing in the soft, piano moments, while the climaxes blaze with light. The rhythmical articulation is amazingly alert - everyone on their toes for this truly great and very demanding conductor.



Szell's Fifth is simply stupendous! Utterly superb! This is one of the few truly great recordings of this magnificent statement of hope and triumph. (A far more passionate and powerful performance than either Szell's Cleveland or Concertgebouw recordings). The tremendous sense of occasion is underlined by the exuberant delight of the discerning Salzburg audience!



Highly recommend!

"