Arturo Toscanini - Beethoven: The Symphonies, Vol. 1 (1951-53) [2020]

This set of three volumes (two double CDs and a single) brings together the official RCA releases of Toscanini’s late 1940s and early 1950s Beethoven symphonies, with one notable substitution. The 1952 recording of the Ninth Symphony was released on Pristine as PASC120 in 2008. Rather than revisit it we decided instead to use the 1948 recording that was broadcast as an early telecast. It’s a less well-known performance, and one which has benefited greatly from the Pristine XR treatment, as indeed have many of the official RCA releases.

I have attempted across these volumes to find a continuity of orchestral sound quality that is audibly missing in the RCA issues. In each case, with the exception of the substituted Ninth, the symphonies were recorded by Toscanini with his NBC Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, either in live or studio recording situations, and as such one might expect a consistency of timbre. XR remastering allows for this, using the concept of tonal re-balancing to iron out the inconsistencies of the original recordings.


Tracks:

CD 1

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21
1. 1st mvt. - Adagio molto – Allegro con brio (8:34)
2. 2nd mvt. - Andante cantabile con moto (6:33)
3. 3rd mvt. - Minuet. Allegro molto e vivace - Trio (3:30)
4. 4th mvt. - Finale. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace (5:57)
Recorded 21 December 1951

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 36
5. 1st mvt. - Adagio molto - Allegro con brio (9:34)
6. 2nd mvt. - Larghetto (10:05)
7. 3rd mvt. - Scherzo. Allegro - Trio (3:20)
8. 4th mvt. - Allegro molto (6:12)
Recorded 7 November 1949 & 5 October 1951



CD 2

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op. 55 'Eroica'
1. 1st mvt. - Allegro con brio (14:14)
2. 2nd mvt. - Marcia funebre. Adagio assai (15:26)
3. 3rd mvt. - Scherzo. Allegro vivace - Trio (5:27)
4. 4th mvt. - Finale. Allegro molto (11:44)
Concert of 6 December 1953

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4 in B flat, Op. 60
5. 1st mvt. - Adagio - Allegro vivace (10:01)
6. 2nd mvt. - Adagio (8:53)
7. 3rd mvt. - Allegro vivace (5:03)
8. 4th mvt. - Allegro ma non troppo (7:04)
Concert of 3 February 1951

Personnel:

NBC Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Arturo Toscanini