Though it was a variable set, one of the early examples of Bernstein using the technique of edited live recordings, it is good to have his characterful readings of Beethoven symphonies on CD. The new medium tends to make the tendency to bass-heaviness less objectionable, even though the oddities of multi-track balances and the sound of Bernstein's vocal and balletic contributions become the more apparent. If initially I was disappointed that this series did not as a rule bring the sort of electricity which marked his New York recordings of Beethoven for CBS, the positive merits are many. My comparisons have included the new DG Galleria CD of the same coupling in Karajan's 1977 Berlin recording (419 051-2GGA—to be reviewed in detail later), and if there you do indeed have performances of very high voltage, there is a case for Bernstein's generally broader view, when it is so well sustained. Broader still of course is Klemperer in both symphonies, and once again in the latest CD transfer one notes the added sense of presence and realism from those vintage EMI recordings of 1958 and 1960, even though the upper limitation means less bloom on the strings.
Few will object to the weightiness of Bernstein in the first movement of teh Fifth, when the performance has such rhythmic panache, and the affectionate manner in the Andante nicely skirts the danger of sounding mannered. Similarly, in the first and second movements of the Eighth Bernstein's rhythmic flair banishes any objections to slow tempos, with the Allegretto given bluff jollity. In that movement Bernstein is far heavier than Gerard Schwarz in his reading with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on the new CD from Delos, and though in the first movement he, too, like Bernstein, has a speed slower than usual (and far slower than Karajan) the inner clarity stems from the recording as well as from the chamber scale. Indeed, this is lighter in texture than the splendid new Norrington/EMI version on period instruments, where the warm ambience takes away pin-point clarity. In the finale of No. 8 too the textures are admirably transparent with string tremolos exceptionally clear, more so than with Norrington.
Schwarz is less compelling in Symphony No. 1, inclined to sound a little pedantic as in the very precise phrasing at the start of the slow movement, while in the first movement the Allegro follows the slow introduction too casually without the sudden sharpening of focus needed. In that symphony too the benefits of clarity in a chamber performance are very evident, though again the Delos recording fails to give much sense of expansion in fortissimo tuttis. It is not just a question of dynamic but of body of sound, and even with chamber forces there should be more contrast. The sound in the Prometheus Overture, recorded in London with the LSO, is quite different, more ample in scale and in ambience. There is less inner clarity, but violin articulation is admirably clean. When the introduction to the Overture brings the least compelling playing on the whole disc, it is a pity that it is placed first. It then leads to Symphony No. 8 instead of the closely related No. 1. The fill-up overture on the Bernstein disc is taken from his complete recording of Fidelio, with sound of similar quality but with rather cleaner bass.'