# Karajan's 1977's Beethoven's Eight



## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

It seems underwhelming compared to his exalted status as a weighty conductor [The 1984 Third remains unrivaled for me. A case of perfection. The ultimate happiness.]

Was this a deliberate choice or just a bad case of recording? [Maestro hardly seems to go wrong with any of his recordings.] (If I appear like a worshiper, then pardon me but I do not know any conductor with the calibre of the Great or the vast empire of recording. Ashkenazy probably comes close.]

What your favorite Eight recording? Mine is Barenboim's 2000 cycle with Staatskapelle Dresden.


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## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

Ludwig van Beethoven said:


> It seems underwhelming compared to his exalted status as a weighty conductor [The 1984 Third remains unrivaled for me. A case of perfection. The ultimate happiness.]
> 
> *Was this a deliberate choice or just a bad case of recording?* [Maestro hardly seems to go wrong with any of his recordings.] (If I appear like a worshiper, then pardon me but I do not know any conductor with the calibre of the Great or the vast empire of recording. Ashkenazy probably comes close.]
> 
> What your favorite Eight recording? Mine is Barenboim's 2000 cycle with Staatskapelle Dresden.


I'm not sure I fully understand your post. I don't think it was a deliberate choice to make a bad recording or bad performance, that's just silly.

I'm a big Karajan fan but he definitely made his share of questionable recordings (most great conductors had their share of clunkers!). The 1984 Beethoven cycle is one of those recordings that is ranked much much less favorably than his previous two Beethoven cycles (1963 is Karajan's most highly praised cycle and 1977 is no. 2). I sometimes wonder if Karajan really felt the need to record a new Beethoven cycle, did he truly feel passionate about it or did he just want to take advantage of the new digital recording technology? Not that there's anything wrong with wanting to leave your "personal stamp" in the Digital Era. Perhaps, artistically, it's a bit questionable. Especially considering that his interpretations of Beethoven remained _largely _unchanged from the 50s to the 80s.

I don't think I have a favorite Beethoven 8th, it's not one of my favorites but if I had to choose I would go with John Eliot Gardiner's from his 1994 Beethoven cycle. I think his conducting style goes well with the 8th in particular.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Interesting how fickle critical opinion is. One criticism of Karajan's 1977 eighth when it came out was it was too fast. Now others like Chailly do it at a far greater lick and the critics for over themselves to praise their performances. The 1977 cycle is very good with only perhaps 1, 2 and 4 being preferable in 1963. I agree the 1985 Eroica is very good.


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

Not sure I understand either...

...but I like Herbie's 1977 LvB Eighth.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

What I meant was that my opinion of it being a bad recording is entirely a personal choice, but did Karajan deliberately recorded at a slower tempi and tune the orchestra to sound a slightly lower [I think it is underwhelming, perhaps the Maestro didn't.]


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