This 2007 Orfeo disc includes two of the three works performed by the Wiener Symphoniker under Otto Klemperer on March 8, 1956. Present are the Brahms Third Symphony from before the interval and the Beethoven Seventh Symphony from after the interval; missing is the Bach Third Orchestral Suite that opened the concert. But while we can only lament what is not here, we can only be grateful for what is here: a lyric, dramatic, even epic Brahms Third and a singing, soaring, altogether splendid Beethoven Seventh. Then starting ...
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This 2007 Orfeo disc includes two of the three works performed by the Wiener Symphoniker under Otto Klemperer on March 8, 1956. Present are the Brahms Third Symphony from before the interval and the Beethoven Seventh Symphony from after the interval; missing is the Bach Third Orchestral Suite that opened the concert. But while we can only lament what is not here, we can only be grateful for what is here: a lyric, dramatic, even epic Brahms Third and a singing, soaring, altogether splendid Beethoven Seventh. Then starting his eighth decade, Klemperer had 50 years' experience behind him when this concert was given, and it is amply obvious that the fire in his heart still burns bright. In this pair of performances his technique is strong, his beat firm, his balances lucid, and his drive indomitable. Though the Wiener Symphoniker's string tone is sometimes wiry and the ensemble occasionally rough, the musicians give Klemperer everything they have in terms of power and dedication -- and it's more than...
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