Catalogue | Orchestra

“My first encounter with Beethoven goes way back. Already as a child I wanted my parents to give me the scores of the Beethoven symphonies... I could read music before learning to write and do arithmetic. I read the scores in bed and under my desk at school... These first impressions were colossal - they were indelible and have remained with me ever since.“ (Rafael Kubelik)

audite continues its series with Rafael Kubelik and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, a series which has won several prizes. Two symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven are being released as live recordings for the first time.

Beethoven’s Fourth has always been somewhat overshadowed by the revolutionary Eroica and the weighty, fateful Fifth; it has never been as frequently programmed as have these others. Unjustly so, for Rafael Kubelik’s interpretation reveals the Fourth to be an enormously multi-layered composition. This impression already begins with the first movement’s extremely tense, exciting introduction. It is able to develop its key effect for the work by persisting consequently in the slow Adagio and remaining “sempre pianissimo“ except for a few outbursts. It becomes clear, when comparing the work to the Fifth, that both symphonies are “typical“ Beethoven in different ways, with enormous expressive depth and complex formal structure. In both works, each thematic development and harmonic progression is of significance in the overall dramaturgy.

Kubelik and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra make the most of the composed contrasts and extremes in each of these works. In live recordings made in the years 1979 (Fourth) and 1969 (Fifth), they convince the listener once more with their customary perfection and thrilling musical vitality.

• American Record Guide | Haldeman | January 11, 2003

  Around the time this Symphony 4 was recorded in October 1979, I saw this same ensemble strict unison bowing and all, deliver a very robust Dvorak 8. I...

• Classica | Stéphane Friédérich | January 6, 2003

  Ces Symphonies sont extraites de deux concerts datant respectivement de 1979 et 1969. Un léger souffle n'altère pas la qualité de la prise de son,...

• Crescendo | Tom Reinhold | January 3, 2003

  Das Label Audite hat die verdienstvolle Aufgabe übernommen, den großen Dirigenten Rafael Kubelik nicht in Vergessenheit geraten zu lassen. Nach...

• Diapason | J.-Ch. H. | January 6, 2003

  Kubelik et Beethoven se sont au moins rencontrés pour une «Missa solemnis» inoubliable (Orfeo) et pour des symphonies chez DG, gravées avec des...

• Gramophone | Rob Cowan | January 10, 2003

  Kubelik takes the Stage
  Some years ago I was involved in a discussion concerning Wilhelm Furtwängler's potential artistic heir. Who might he be? There was no lack of...

• klassik.com | Andrea Hampe | May 9, 2003

  Erlebnismusik als laues Schicksalslüftchen
  Rafael Kubelik wird zu Recht in einem Atemzug mit den ganz großen...

• Pizzicato | Steff | January 5, 2003

  Blutarmer Beethoven mit Kubelik
  Diese beiden Beethoven-Symphonien weisen Rafael Kubelik als Traditionalisten aus, der es zwar versteht, die Werke makellos abspulen zu lassen, dabei...

• Scherzo | Jesús Dini | January 1, 2005

  Sendas grabaciones en vivo, históricas, datadas en Bonn (Beethovensaal 1979) para la Cuarta y en 1969 la celebérrima Quinta en el Deutsches Museum...

• WDR 3 | Thomas Jakobi | June 3, 2003

  Eine neue CD mit Beethoven-Sinfonien – da stellt sich natürlich gleich die Frage: brauchen wir davon wirklich noch eine weitere Aufnahme? Sicher...

• www.ClassicsToday.com | David Hurwitz | January 9, 2003

  You always can count on Rafael Kubelik to deliver performances that are intelligently musical, warmly alive, and stylistically sound, and these two...