Otto Klemperer – Beethoven Symphony No. 9 “Choral” – Vinyl LP

“A performance which leaves you with the feeling that you have been through a spiritual experience of overwhelming greatness,” enthused Gramophone in 1958, when Klemperer’s Philharmonia recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the ‘Choral’, was first released. It is now available once again on LP (a two-disc set). The quartet of singers in the finale of the Symphony No. 9 includes two of the greatest names of the era, Christa Ludwig and Hans Hotter.

1 Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral”: I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso

1 Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral”: II. Molto vivace – Presto

1 Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral”: III. Adagio molto e cantabile – Andante moderato – Tempo I – Andante moderato – Adagio – Lo stesso tempo

1 Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral”: IV. (a) Presto – Allegro assai
2 Symphony No 9 in D Minor, Op 125 “Choral”: IV (b) Presto – Recitativo “O Freunde, nicht diese Tone!”
3 Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral”: IV. (c) Allegro assai vivace. “Froh, froh, wie seine Sonnen”
4 Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral”: IV. (d) Andante maestoso. “Seid umschlungen, Millionen”
5 Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral”: IV. (e) Allegro ma non tanto. “Freude, Tochter aus Elysium”