Carlos Kleiber, Bayerisches Staatsorchester - Beethoven: Symphonie 7 A-Dur, Op.92 (2005) [SACD]

A customer:
I forgot for a moment that it’s a recording of Beethoven’s 7th & just marveled at the fierce passion of true artistry married to mind-bogglingly precise craft. I saw Beverly Sills interviewed & she said that it was truly perfect for her only once. This has got to be that moment for these musicians, my god – the quality & attention to listening, response to one another is so incredible, each instrument becoming 1 with the whole.
I was stunned, riveted, moved to spiritual awe.
By BigCityChicken on February 6, 2010:
I’m not gonna dig too deep here, I lack eloquence & the other reviewers have summed it up pretty well, but this is the Beethoven 7th that decimates all. Seriously.
Kleiber the specialist buries the competition with this performance. I cannot listen to another Beethoven 7th the same way again. My previous favorite 7th was the old mono Toscanini on vinyl…..not anymore. This is quite an interpretation & so powerful that I cannot listen to anything else afterward…I’m done for the day, ain’t nothing else gonna top it.
The qualities this Kleiber 7th exudes has that others don’t is: supreme energy & dynamics, beautiful sound quality (with some usual live audience sounds), &, best of all, an orchestra pumping on 12 cylinders playing as one.
This is an excellent sonic representation of how an orchestra as a whole, playing together, is the greatest instrument in the world. This recording exemplifies aspects of musical art that are fading away…restraint, instinct, support, congruence, breath & fire.
Simply, the group acts in the best interest of the group. The 1 prominent individual who stands out is the eccentric weaving the wand who, on this day, created a giant human rhythmic machine consisting of musicians who played well beyond expectation.
By Yaron Karshai on October 20, 2007:
This is the most electrifying performance of Beethoven’s 7th I have ever heard!! It has much more spontaneity & drive than Kleiber’s studio recording with the VPO & it is even more exciting than his concertegebouw performance from 1984 (DVD only).
Indeed, this is really 1 of those rare performances that convince you from start to finish that this music cannot be heard more vivid, dramatic & true, & it can only happen with a genius conductor like Carlos Kleiber.
This great evening was captured in a very fine recording & it belongs to the short list of the greatest Beethoven recordings of all time!