Gramophone Magazine, May 2009
¡°Abbado, a Furtwangler admirer in principle, seems ever more Italian, his tauter lyricism allied to a sense of forward movement influenced, we are told, by period practice. The surprise is not the Mediterranean luminosity and scrupulous attention to instrumental detail - one expects nothing less from this source - but the animating sense of line. The Seventh Symphony... knows precisely where it's going and why... The sense of joy present throughout is overwhelming by the close.¡±
MusicWeb International, March 2012
¡°the joy and the life behind these performances makes it pretty plain why he chose this set as his ¡°legacy set¡± for Beethoven...the peerless playing and outstanding direction make it a joy to experience.¡±
Disc 1
Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, ¡°Pastoral¡±
I. Allegro ma non troppo 11:33
II. Andante molto moto 10:52
III. Allegro 5:13
IV. Allegro 3:24
V. Allegretto 11:26
Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
I. Adagio molto . Allegro con brio 8:58
II. Andante cantabile con moto 7:40
III. Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace 4:33
IV. Finale. Adagio . Allegro molto e vivace 7:43
Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93
I. Allegro vivace e con brio 9:32
II. Allegretto scherzando 4:13
III. Tempo di Menuetto 5:48
IV. Allegro vivace 8:43
Disc 2
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36
I. Adagio molto . Allegro con brio 12:17
II. Larghetto 10:54
III. Scherzo. Allegro . Trio 4:28
IV. Allegro molto 8:48
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
I. Allegro con brio 7:23
II. Andante con moto 9:39
III. Allegro 7:58
IV. Allegro 11:18
Disc 3
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op.125 ¡°Choral¡±
I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso 14:33
II. Molto vivace 13:20
III. Adagio molto e cantabile 13:07
IV. Presto 25:59
Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
I. Allegro con brio 17:04
II. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai 15:04
III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace 5:49
IV. Finale. Allegro molto 12:21
Disc 4
Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60
I. Adagio . Allegro vivace 11:36
II. Adagio 9:55
III. Allegro vivace 5:55
IV. Allegro ma non troppo 9:42
Symphony No. 7 in a major, Op. 92
I. Poco sostenuto . Vivace 13:28
II. Allegretto 11:58
III. Presto 4:40
IV. Allegro con brio 8:52