Music CD Box Set Review: 'The Complete Beethoven Symphonies'
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| © 1993 Intersound Inc. |
Because Intersound's business model was based on direct sales to record shops and big box stores such as the now-vanished Camelot Music and Circuit City rather than adding a separate (and pricier) distributor, box sets such as The Complete Beethoven Symphonies were not only easy to find but cheaper than similar collections by Deutsche Gramophone or Philips. And because the company focused at first almost exclusively on the classical repertoire, aficionados of Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Berlioz, Mozart, and Wagner who couldn't afford the offerings of the more prestigious labels could build up a decent music library with box sets from Intersound.
Like Piano Masterpieces, The Complete Beethoven Symphonies consists of recording by European orchestras that are respected in their home towns but aren't in the varsity of classical music ensembles. Instead of performances by the London Symphony Orchestra (known to many movie buffs as the orchestra chosen by John Williams to perform some of his most iconic works, including Star Wars, Superman: The Movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Dracula) or the Berlin Philharmonic, The Complete Beethoven Symphonies presents nine symphonies and several overtures by Beethoven as performed by Britain's London Festival Orchestra, New Philharmonia of London, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Germany's Bamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and Slovenia's Ljubljana Radio Symphony.
Disc: 1
1. Symphony No. 1 In C Major, Op. 21: Adagio molto; Allegro con brio - London Festival Orchestra
2. Symphony No. 1 In C Major, Op. 21: Andante cantabile con moto - London Festival Orchestra
3. Symphony No. 1 In C Major, Op. 21: Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace - London Festival Orchestra
4. Symphony No. 1 In C Major, Op. 21: Adagio; Allegro molto e vivace - London Festival Orchestra
5. Symphony No. 2 In D Major, Op. 36: Adagio molto; Allegro con brio - London Philharmonic Orchestra
6. Symphony No. 2 In D Major, Op. 36: Larghetto - London Philharmonic Orchestra
7. Symphony No. 2 In D Major, Op. 36: Scherzo: Allegro - London Philharmonic Orchestra
8. Symphony No. 2 In D Major, Op. 36: Allegro molto - London Philharmonic Orchestra
9. Overture To The Creatures Of Prometheus, Op. 43 - London Festival Orchestra
Disc: 2
1. Symphony No. 3 In E-Flat Major, Op. 55, Eroica: Allegro con brio - Bamburg Philharmonic Orchestra
2. Symphony No. 3 In E-Flat Major, Op. 55, Eroica: Marcia funebre: Adagio assai - Bamburg Philharmonic Orchestra
3. Symphony No. 3 In E-Flat Major, Op. 55, Eroica: Scherzo: Allegro vivace - Bamburg Philharmonic Orchestra
4. Symphony No. 3 In E-Flat Major, Op. 55, Eroica: Finale: Allegro molto - Bamburg Philharmonic Orchestra
5. Symphony No. 4 In B-Flat Major, Op. 60: Adagio - Allegro vivace - London Festival Orchestra
6. Symphony No. 4 In B-Flat Major, Op. 60: Adagio - London Festival Orchestra
7. Symphony No. 4 In B-Flat Major, Op. 60: Allegro vivace - London Festival Orchestra
8. Symphony No. 4 In B-Flat Major, Op. 60: Allegro ma non troppo - London Festival Orchestra
Disc: 3
1. Symphony No. 5 In C Minor, Op. 67: Allegro con brio - Ljubljana Radio Symphony
2. Symphony No. 5 In C Minor, Op. 67: Andante con moto - Ljubljana Radio Symphony
3. Symphony No. 5 In C Minor, Op. 67: Allegro - Ljubljana Radio Symphony
4. Symphony No. 5 In C Minor, Op. 67: Allegro - Ljubljana Radio Symphony
5. Symphony No. 6 In F Major, Op. 68, Pastoral: Awakening Of Cheerful Feeling On Arriving In
The Country: Allegro ma non troppo - London Festival Orchestra
6. Symphony No. 6 In F Major, Op. 68, Pastoral: Scene By The Brook: Andante molto mosso - London Festival Orchestra
7. Symphony No. 6 In F Major, Op. 68, Pastoral: Merry Gathering Of Country-Folk: Allegro - London Festival Orchestra
8. Symphony No. 6 In F Major, Op. 68, Pastoral: Thunderstorm; Tempest: Allegro - London Festival Orchestra
9. Symphony No. 6 In F Major, Op. 68, Pastoral: Shepherd's Song; Happy, Thankful Feelings After The Storm: Allegretto - London Festival Orchestra
Disc: 4
1. Symphony No. 7 In A Major, Op. 92: Poco sostenuto - Vivace - Slovak Philharmonic
2. Symphony No. 7 In A Major, Op. 92: Allegretto - Slovak Philharmonic
3. Symphony No. 7 In A Major, Op. 92: Presto - Assai meno presto - Slovak Philharmonic
4. Symphony No. 7 In A Major, Op. 92: Allegro con brio - Slovak Philharmonic
5. Symphony No. 8 In F Major, Op. 93: Allegro vivace e con brio - London Festival Orchestra
6. Symphony No. 8 In F Major, Op. 93: Allegretto scherzando - London Festival Orchestra
7. Symphony No. 8 In F Major, Op. 93: Tempo di menuetto - London Festival Orchestra
8. Symphony No. 8 In F Major, Op. 93: Allegro vivace - London Festival Orchestra
9. Overture To Fidelio - New Philharmonic Orchestra Of London
Disc: 5
1. Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Choral: Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso - London Festival Orchestra Of London
2. Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Choral: Molto Vivace - Presto - Molto vivace - London Festival Orchestra Of London
3. Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Choral: Adagio molto e cantabile - Andante moderato - London Festival Orchestra Of London
4. Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Choral: Allegro assai - London Festival Orchestra Of London
5. Overture To Egmont, Op. 84 - London Symphony Orchestra
My Take
Before Intersound's Don Johnson and other executives made a series of ill-considered decisions (such as abandoning classical music for a mix of what they thought would be more profitable genres), budget-conscious musicophiles bought box sets like The Complete Beethoven Symphonies because the performances were decent and sounded good on a stereo system even if they lacked "big name talents" or were not played by orchestras in the "major leagues" of classical music.
To be sure, in this set, I have all nine of Beethoven symphonies, including my three favorites: the Third (or "Eroica"), the Fifth (perhaps Beethoven's best-known symphony), and the Ninth (which I call the Die Hard Symphony due to the late Michael Kamen's interpolating its Ode to Joy in his score for John McTiernan's 1988 action classic), plus a nice little grab-bag of extras, such as the Overture to Fidelio (Beethoven's only opera) and the Overture to the Creatures of Prometheus.
As I said earlier, the ensembles in this 1993 box set are not the creme de la creme of the classical music community, but they aren't exactly high school or college orchestras. They represent some of the most professional musicians in Europe, and the quality of the performances is, I'd say, pretty good. Alas, I can't say who conducted the orchestras in The Complete Beethoven Symphonies; the CD track lists on each jewel case don't identify the various maestros. Neither do the liner notes, which focus exclusively on the works presented in the five discs but not much else.
Because Intersound changed owners and names several times before it finally closed in the early 2000s, this set is not as omnipresent in stores as it used to be. Even in Amazon, this box set is only found through third-party sellers. Based on the few reviews I've read on Jeff Bezos' online emporium, consumers complain that they've only received one disc out of the five or that some of the symphonies are incomplete.
I bought my set of The Complete Beethoven Symphonies 25 years ago; I don't have the outer box the set came in any longer, but the four CD cases (they hold multiple discs) are still in decent shape and the contents reflect the tracklist as presented in this review. The discs are also almost like new; I don't play them that often, so wear-and-tear is not an issue for me.
I like my set of The Complete Beethoven Symphonies; it may not have the best sound or boast big names on the cover, but the music is still some of the best work from the Romantic era and stirs the soul and engages the heart and mind.
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