Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphonies
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras (conductor)

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Symphony No 1 in C major, Op 21
CD1 1 Movement 1: Adagio molto – Allegro con brio [8:44]
2 Movement 2: Andante cantabile con moto [7:38]
3 Movement 3: Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace [4:02]
4 Movement 4: Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace [5:45]
Symphony No 2 in D major, Op 36
5 Movement 1: Adagio molto – Allegro con brio [12:11]
6 Movement 2: Larghetto [10:05]
7 Movement 3: Scherzo. Allegro [4:47]
8 Movement 4: Allegro molto [6:12]
Symphony No 3 in E flat major 'Eroica', Op 55
CD2 1 Movement 1: Allegro con brio [16:40]
2 Movement 2: Marcia funebre. Adagio assai [14:01]
3 Movement 3: Scherzo. Allegro vivace [5:22]
4 Movement 4: Finale. Allegro molto – Poco andante – Presto [10:58]
Symphony No 4 in B flat major, Op 60
5 Movement 1: Adagio – Allegro vivace [11:03]
6 Movement 2: Adagio [8:18]
7 Movement 3: Menuetto. Allegro vivace [5:25]
8 Movement 4: Allegro ma non troppo [6:47]
Symphony No 5 in C minor, Op 67
CD3 1 Movement 1: Allegro con brio [7:04]
2 Movement 2: Andante con moto [8:44]
3 Movement 3: Scherzo. Allegro [4:55]
4 Movement 4: Allegro – Presto [10:42]
Symphony No 6 in F major 'Pastoral', Op 68
5 Movement 1: Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande. Allegro ma non troppo [11:31]
6 Movement 2: szene am Bach. Andante molto mosso [11:31]
7 Movement 3: Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute. Allegro [4:56]
8 Movement 4: Donner – Sturm. Allegro [3:25]
9 Movement 5: Hirtengesang 'Frohe, dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm'. Allegretto [8:39]
Symphony No 7 in A major, Op 92
CD4 1 Movement 1: Poco sostenuto – Vivace [13:19]
2 Movement 2: Allegretto [8:03]
3 Movement 3: Presto – Assai meno presto [8:08]
4 Movement 4: Allegro con brio [8:47]
Symphony No 8 in F major, Op 93
5 Movement 1: Allegro vivace e con brio [8:58]
6 Movement 2: Allegretto scherzando [4:05]
7 Movement 3: Tempo di menuetto [5:59]
8 Movement 4: Allegro vivace [7:16]
Symphony No 9 in D minor 'Choral', Op 125
CD5 1 Movement 1: Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso [14:14]
The Philharmonia
2 Movement 2: Molto vivace [13:18]
The Philharmonia
3 Movement 3: Adagio molto e cantabile [12:41]
The Philharmonia
4 Movement 4: Presto – Allegro assai 'Ode to Joy' [21:17]
Janice Watson (soprano), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano), Stuart Skelton (tenor), Detlef Roth (bass), Edinburgh Festival Chorus, The Philharmonia

Recording details: Various dates
Usher Hall, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Produced by Bill Lloyd
Engineered by Matt Parkin & Mike Hatch
Release date: September 2007
Total duration: 335 minutes 30 seconds

‘A decisive interpretation, reinforced by a near-flawless and totally committed performance, and driven by an energy and vitality that conductors half the age of the venerable octogenarian Mackerras could only dream of emulating. The confidence and challenge intrinsic to the great symphony bounded off the page, flowed through conductor and orchestra and filled the auditorium, whose near-capacity audience was gripped. That grip remained fast for the duration: through the pulsing virility of the first movement and an amazing account of the second where Sir Charles and the SCO at once maintained a swift momentum while creating an illusion of unhurried expansiveness, crept through a stealthily-introduced scherzo and, in a wonderfully controlled flow of tension and release, exploded into a finale whose effect was as cathartic as it was climactic. This Beethoven Five was a seamlessly integrated interpretation and performance which refreshed the best known of all symphonies. That’s why it was special. This performance was suffused with the shock of the new’ (Glasgow Herald)

'In Mackerras's experienced hands, the music palpably speaks of the dawn of Romanticism - as much in the flare of brass and grain of strings as in the supple 'spring' and energy he summons from it … The Ninth reveals what a superior musician Mackerras is, as he creates a joyous sense of ferment' (Financial Times)