Tír Na HiFi

Two wonderful Tone Poems from Liszt and an enchanting May Night Overture from Rimsky-Korsakov [which I am not sure if I have heard before - I must check that]....

Diapason wrote:What are the sonics like on the Zinman Beethoven set?

The sonics are very, very good, some of the performances are excellent.


I am making my way though the larger box set concentrating on the Beethoven and Schubert performances with a sample of Brahms, Mahler and Strauss as I go. I have deliberately avoided listening to the ten Mahler first as it might put me off the entire set. Like Fergus before me I would definitely recommend the Beethoven box set.

fergus wrote:

Diapason wrote:What are the sonics like on the Zinman Beethoven set?

Don't be worrying about the sonics Simon; this cycle is all about the performances.

Heh, that's the kind of response that immediately puts me off a purchase!!

But I could do with another cycle, I think.

Diapason wrote:

fergus wrote:

Diapason wrote:What are the sonics like on the Zinman Beethoven set?

Don't be worrying about the sonics Simon; this cycle is all about the performances.

Heh, that's the kind of response that immediately puts me off a purchase!!

But I could do with another cycle, I think.

I think the sound quality of the Zinman is more than adequate: clear, warm, well balanced and the excellent acoustics of the Tönhalle are well caught. For the price, it´s an excellent buy, haven´t check if the Harnoncourt is now in the same price bracket, if it is I would opt for Harnoncourt first, but the Zinman is truly excellent.

Well I may yet buy the Zinman too, but in the meantime I couldn't resist this set:

Diapason wrote:Well I may yet buy the Zinman too, but in the meantime I couldn't resist this set:

Harnoncourt´s set also had a huge impact on how we hear Beethoven today. It won the Gramophone award for best recording of it´s year and had unanimous critical acclaim. There´s a palpable sense of discovery and excitement from all involved. Harnoncourt was wise to choose the COE when most of their young players had never played a Beethoven cycle before, so the youths arrived without preconceptions and readily accepted Harnoncourt´s ideas. It is a landmark recording.

Thanks Jose, this sense of excitement comes across even reading the reviews on amazon, and I quite like the idea of this recording straddling performance practices. As I think I've said here before, I don't know the Beethoven Symphonies as well as I should, mainly because they've never really grabbed me. I like them and admire them, but they've never excited me. I'm interested to see whether a set such as this will change that (in the way that a first exposure to a HIP Four Seasons blew my socks off). Time will tell, but one way or the other, £20 for 14 discs seems like a bargain.

The Harnoncourt set is one of the great cycles in my opinion.  Like the best of Harnoncourt's work, it is continually thought-provoking and endlessly rewarding. That set is amazing value of money, containing (in addition to the symphonic cycle) superb versions of the piano concertos with Pierre-Laurent Aimard and an exceptional version of the great Missa Solemnis.  It is Harnoncourt's profound understanding of the spiritual forces that inhabit this unsettling masterpiece in particular that sets him aside as one of the great Beethoven interpreters. Very highly recommended.

Diapason wrote:Thanks Jose, this sense of excitement comes across even reading the reviews on amazon, and I quite like the idea of this recording straddling performance practices. As I think I've said here before, I don't know the Beethoven Symphonies as well as I should, mainly because they've never really grabbed me. I like them and admire them, but they've never excited me. I'm interested to see whether a set such as this will change that (in the way that a first exposure to a HIP Four Seasons blew my socks off). Time will tell, but one way or the other, £20 for 14 discs seems like a bargain.

Congratulations on the acquisition Simon. It's a steal at twenty quid. I think that it is a very fine set and one I listened to quite a lot when I bought it. I haven't listened to it much of late as I have moved on to other more preferable individual performances in my collection. I must return to it now that Pepe and Paul have given it an honourable mention.

As you might have guessed I LOVE Beethoven's Symphonies, I never tire of listening to them.

Diapason wrote:

fergus wrote:

Diapason wrote:What are the sonics like on the Zinman Beethoven set?

Don't be worrying about the sonics Simon; this cycle is all about the performances.

Heh, that's the kind of response that immediately puts me off a purchase!!

But I could do with another cycle, I think.

I see that you have bought the Harnoncourt cycle Simon; you should enjoy that. As for another Beethoven Symphonic cycle I would recommend, depending on how one likes one's Beethoven, von Karajan [1963]/Zinman, Cluytens, Gardiner and/or Bruggen [2].

What would others recommend to help convert this non believer?