BEETHOVEN: THE NINE SYMPHONIES; SIX OVERTURES. Otto...

BEETHOVEN: THE NINE SYMPHONIES; SIX OVERTURES. Otto Klemperer conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra. Seven EMI/Angel Compact Discs: CDC 7 47184 (Symphonies Nos. 1 and 7); CDC 7 47185 (Nos. 2 and 4); CDC 7 47186 (No. 3); CDC 7 47187 (Nos. 5 and 8); CDC 7 47188 (No. 6, and “Egmont” Incidental Music); CDC 7 47189 (No. 9) and CDC 7 47190 (Overtures). What should one do about Klemperer? His conducting is either heavy and ponderous, emphasizing impossibly slow tempos, or it is magisterial, turning Beethoven’s music into an heroic statement of almost mystical dimension. Restored to the CD age intact, Klemperer’s Beethoven cycle offers enough disappointments and hurrahs to satisfy supporters and detractors. Listening to his performance of Symphonies 2, 3, 4 and 6 (and the overtures), one is transfixed at the power and force Klemperer brings to the music. But it takes a patient listener to sit at Klemperer’s altar when it comes to Symphonies Nos. 1, 5, 7 and 8--they plod through visions that only he seems to understand. The Ninth ranges from the masterful to the cumbersome. Few will deny the grandeur Klemperer brings to the six Overtures. Those who believe Klemperer can do no wrong will consider the Ninth (as well as the “Eroica”) definitive. The CD digitally remastered sound splendidly freshens up the dated aural range.