Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93. LSO, Eugen Jochum. Rec. 1978

00:00 - I. Allegro vivace e con brio 09:49 - II. Allegretto scherzando 14:10 - III. Tempo di menuetto 19:41 - IV. Allegro vivace Recorded: 13.X.1978, Kingsway Hall London https://www.discogs.com/ru/release/1466708... DSCH 5.0 de 5 estrellas A great Beethoven cycle from the last conductor of the romantic German tradition Calificado en Estados Unidos el 22 de abril de 2009 Jochum was assistant to Furtwangler in Berlin at the start of the 1930's and thus was the last in the line of the German romantic conducting tradition as exemplified by Nikisch, Bruno Walter, Furtwangler,and Horenstein (also a Furtwangler protege). Like Furtwangler, he was a tall imposing figure. His temperemt and approach to conducting was,however, more in the collegial vein, much like Walter...a very friendly man. He was the only German conductor that the Dutch allowed in Holland after WWII, because of his staunch refusal to join the Nazi party during his stint in Hamburg during the war. I met Jochum in 1974 when he was in residence at the Tanglewood Festival in Lenox, Mass., and can attest first hand to his kindness, humility and generosity of spirit. His great humanity and spirituality shine through in this his last Beethoven symphony recordings with the LSO...he had recorded previously Beethoven symphony recordings,beginning in the 1930's, with the Vienna Philharmonic,Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony and Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Here, the London Symphony is in great form for Jochum (who they named conductor Emeritus) and receive excellent sound from EMI's engineers...the best sounding of all of Jochum's prior cycles...probably a Kingsway Hall venue recording given its' full rich sound. This LSO cycle may not have as much fire as Jochum's earlier Beethoven, but it has a fullness and richness of spirit unmatched in his younger efforts. Jochum is in the great pantheon of 20th century German conductors....he belongs in the select company of Walter, Furtwangler, and Klemperer...the greatest German exponents of the Austro-Germanic symphonic tradition. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Beethoven-... "Beethoven: Jochum's three Beethoven cycles have had spotty distribution and gotten little attention when on the market. His two cycles for Universal (DGG and Philips) were inexplicably out at the same time a few years back and received virtually no promotion. The DGG cycle is an odd stereo/mono hybrid with both the Berlin Philharmonic and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, with both ensembles in subpar form. It is superseded by the Concertgebouw cycle on Philips, which is currently to be found in Japan. It is respected by those who know it, but curiously for such a great ensemble, the Dutch players have never given us a truly great Beethoven cycle. To my knowledge, this third and final effort with the London Symphony Orchestra makes its first appearance complete on CD. The playing is surprisingly robust for this group, though they certainly recorded great Beethoven before and since. Jochum's weighty, propulsive and excitable Beethoven features slow tempos without any sense of drag. I've heard more seasoned writers talk about how Jochum was often compared to Furtwangler, but like some of those writers, I don't really understand the comparison. I don't typically like Furtwangler, for starters. This has nothing to do with his Nazi connections, and everything to do with a certain carelessness of technique allied to simply terrible orchestral playing both before and after the Second World War. Rarely if ever was Jochum sloppy, and his generously human take on Beethoven does share some of the qualities that made Furtwangler's Beethoven so revered in some quarters. But Jochum's accuracy and virtuosity is leagues ahead of say, the 1946 Berlin Philharmonic. Perhaps more importantly than all the political and extramusical baggage is the fact that arguably no one has managed to get the London Symphony Orchestra to sound like this in Beethoven across a whole cycle. Krips has a few nice entries in his cycle, and so (surprisingly) does Haitink. Dorati's Seventh is a sleeper pick for the ages, but he never did get around to all nine symphonies for Mercury. Jochum's cycle is consistent and very moving. If you gravitate towards Wand or Barenboim (on Teldec, not Decca), you'll really enjoy this." Brian Wigman http://www.classical.net/music/recs/review...