Bernstein Conducts Beethoven

I've known and had all, bar one, of these performances for decades, and so was hesitant to buy them again at a far from giveaway price. Moreover, Bernstein's concerto recordings and the excellent Choral Fantasy(with Serkin) were omitted. I went ahead, however, because all of these performances have been newly remastered - 3 & 5 and the overtures for the centenary Bernstein Remastered box, including for the first time for over a quarter of a century the superb Missa Solemnis. I'm glad I did take the plunge, because the Mass and the Symphonies have never sounded better and more alive, making one appreciate afresh how good and underappreciated these performances are. Yes, I know Bernstein redid these works for DG, and those performances are excellent too: more refined and, perhaps, more consistent, with less artificial sound, but there's often an extra spark in the New York performances, especially the Mass and, at the very least, Symphonies 1 - 3, 5 & 7.Also in the set, and new to me, is Bernstein's 1959 go at the 7th, which sounds well, and is basically similar to the more familiar 1964 performance. Ultimately, however, it's not as satisfying or all consuming as the later account, which like all the other symphonies is jam packed with repeats - pretty unusual for the time. Bernstein's excellent talk on Beethoven's sketches for the 5th Symphony is included, so it's disappointing that Sony failed to include his talk on the first movement of the Eroica. I know that this historic performance of this groundbreaking work is what really matters, but there's plenty of space available on the disc. On the other hand, at least Sony have bothered to get the excellent Richard Osborne to contribute an essay worthy of this set.Tired of Beethoven? How could you be? Certainly not after listening to these life affirming performances.

The only issue I have with the set concerns missing Columbia Master works issues from Bernstein's New York Philharmonic years. An earlier review pointed this out. The lecture about the Eroica Symphony could have been included along with the concerto recordings: Gould, Serkin and Stern. The remasterings are top of the line compared with older reissues.

The first thing that has to be said is that the quality of the refurbished sound makes these performances sound newly minted. I’ve heard some of them before but these refurbs add an extra dimension to the performances. Some of them have been rightly admired ( 3rd, 5th) and some less so. All of them have energy and freshness and Bernstein brings a recreative energy and a feeling for rhythm that gives new life to familiar works. Indeed, if you have become a bit jaded with routine Beethoven these performances are just the trick. Most of them are quick and energetic in the Toscanini mould and only in the 9th did I find it rushed (with some pretty average vocal contributions). The quality of the orchestral playing is exceptional and the New York Phil of that period was a great orchestra with a sometimes slightly rough sound that gives a rustic vigour to some of the works. It is an underrated symphony cycle that I find preferable to some more feted recordings such as the George Szell Cleveland cycle which I have never warmed to. The overtures disc is similarly exciting. The greatest surprise to me was the Missa Solemnis which I had never heard before. It is a great performance, again in the Toscanini mould, with four exceptional soloists. I’ve always found it a difficult work to like but Bernstein gives it a symphonic unity that I’ve never heard before. It is the best performance that I know. Highly recommended.

PHOTOS 1 & 2: Back in 2010, Sony issued a “24-bit High resolution audio” six-CD box of Bernstein’s New York Beethoven recordings: Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9, Violin Concerto, Overtures, which sells for half the price of the new box.The old box provided no details about the 24-bit remasterings (and no booklet).Rather suspiciously, the layout on each CD was identical to the thirty year-old Bernstein “Royal Edition” which had 16-bit and 20-bit remasterings.See “Remasterings” below.The old box contained nine Symphonies + five Overtures + the Violin Concerto.The new ten-CD box subtracts the Violin Concerto, but adds:-- Bernstein’s musical analysis of the first movement of the Fifth Symphony.-- a second, earlier Bernstein recording of the Seventh Symphony.-- the Missa Solemnis (first remastering on one CD)-- Forty-page booklet featuring an essay from an unexpected source: Karajan biographer Richard Osborne.Osborne compares the New York and Vienna Philharmonics in Bernstein’s two Beethoven sets.Surprisingly, he comes out in favor of New York:“the [New York] Philharmonic never edited out Bernstein’s input, as a decade later the Vienna Philharmonic, protective of their long-established Beethoven tradition, was inclined to do.Like their Austrian colleagues, the New Yorkers had been playing the Beethoven Symphonies since the 1840s.In New York, however, there was no danger of this famously iconoclastic orchestra treating the mighty nine as some sacred family heirloom.”-- now in “Original Jacket” format with LP artwork and program notes.---- Symphony 1 (1964)---- Symphony 2 (1964)---- Symphony 3 (1964) - Bernstein’s musical analysis is missing.---- Symphony 4 (1962)---- Symphony 5 (1961) + musical analysis “How a Great Symphony Was Written”---- Symphony 6 (1963)---- Symphony 7 (two recordings: 1958 and 1964)---- Symphony 8 (1963)---- Symphony 9 (1964) with Arroyo, Sarfati, Di Virgilio, Scott - the Choral Fantasy is missing.---- Overture: Consecration of the House (1962)---- Overture: Egmont (1970)---- Overture: Fidelio (1967)---- Overture: King Stephen (1966)---- Overture: Leonore No.3 (1960) first recording - the second 1976 recording is missing.---- Missa Solemnis - with Farrell, Smith, Lewis, Borg (1960)REMASTERINGS:Are the new 24-bit remasterings the same as those in the 2010 box?No - These are second generation 24-bit remasterings (I think this may be a first for Sony).Three CDs (Symphonies 3, 5, and overtures) were newly remastered in 2017 for Leonard Bernstein Remastered, a 100 CD box.The remaining seven CDs were remastered in 2019.24-bit/192 kHz remasterings by Brett Zinn, Martin Kistner, Matthias Erb and Hansjörg Seiler (the engineers in 2010 were not named).The 2010 remasters were good, but the 2017-19 remasters are more full-bodied and detailed.MISSING RECORDINGS:Unfortunately Sony forgot three Bernstein Beethoven recordings used as fillers on LP. They should be part of any "original jacket" collection.---- Symphony 3 Analysis:In 1966, Bernstein’s analysis of the first movement was on a mini-LP packaged inside the LP jacket.Sony included the talk when they issued Symphony 3 on CD in 1999: Beethoven: Symphony No. 3- Eroica / How a Great Symphony was Written lecture (Bernstein Century).Sony just forgot it this time.Surprising, since they remembered to include the musical analysis that came with the Fifth Symphony (the only two Beethoven symphonies that came with Bernstein talks).Sony has posted it on YouTube: see Comment One (sort by "Oldest").---- Choral Fantasy Op.80 with Rudolf Serkin:In 1969 this was side 4 of a two LP set with the Ninth Symphony. The Symphony is now on one CD, with no room for the Choral Fantasy, but there was plenty of room elsewhere in the box.Sony is cheating with the “original jacket” of Symphony 9: they airbrushed out all mention of the Choral Fantasy.Photo 3 is the actual first LP release (M2S 794) of Symphony 9 - sorry about the condition.---- Leonore Overture No.3, second recording:recorded “live” at Carnegie Hall in 1976 (“Concert of the Century”). The new Sony box includes both recordings of Symphony 7, so it would have made sense to include both recordings of Leonore No.3 (again, plenty of room in the new box).BIG ORCHESTRA BEETHOVEN:Bernstein used the full Philharmonic for these recordings - something that is frowned upon nowadays.And the orchestra sounds even bigger because of the recording venue.Eight of the nine symphonies and the Missa Solemnis were recorded in the ballroom of the Manhattan Center (built as the Manhattan Opera House in 1906), a room with an extremely long reverberation period, which necessitated a lot of spot microphones to capture detail.The result is an artificially enhanced BIG orchestral sound.The 1960 recording of the Missa Solemnis sounds like an orchestra of 200 with a chorus of 300, though I'm sure that can't be true.The opposite of historically correct - but I like it.The engineers had tamed the choral sound by time of the 1964 Ninth Symphony, which sounds more reasonable.The 1958 Seventh Symphony was recorded in the ballroom of the St. George Hotel, Brooklyn - excellent acoustics, but scary neighborhood.The 1964 Seventh Symphony was recorded in Philharmonic Hall (opened 1962, now known as Geffen Hall) - overly dry acoustics (artificial reverbation was applied to the original tape), but a more fashionable neighborhood (Lincoln Center).BEETHOVEN CONCERTI:Including these would have required an additional four CDs, but would have given Bernstein collectors another reason to prefer the new box over the 2010 box.24-bit remasterings of Bernstein’s Beethoven concerto recordings are in these boxes:--- Piano Concerto 1: Leonard Bernstein - The Pianist--- Piano Concerti 2,3,4: Glenn Gould Plays Beethoven: The 5 Piano Concertos--- Piano Concerti 3,5, Choral Fantasy: Rudolf Serkin Plays Beethoven Concertos, Sonatas & Variations--- the Violin Concerto with Isaac Stern is in the 100 CD box Leonard Bernstein Remastered