London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips – Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 ‘Eroica’ (1960/2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips – Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 ‘Eroica’ (1960/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 44:57 minutes | 1,44 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Everest

Beethoven’s Eroica represents his symphonic declaration of independence from the domination of Haydn and Mozart. He spent two years composing it, polishing and refining each phrase until he had exactly what he wanted. The results must have proved startling to the symphony’s first hearers. Not only was it probably by far the longest symphony written up to that time but it had more daring innovations.

Josef Krips’ cycle of Ludwig van Beethoven’s nine symphonies was recorded in 1960, originally on 35mm film for the Everest label, but this deluxe audiophile treatment was hardly apparent in several inferior-sounding reissues over the years. However, this situation has been rectified by Madacy, who reissued the Everest recordings in a fresh remastering from the original tapes. This recording is reasonably faithful to the professional but not fully polished sound of the London Symphony Orchestra, presenting the way it sounded before its rise to world-class status; the orchestra is quite smooth in a fairly reverberant acoustic that provides a pleasant aural effect. Krips may be grouped among conductors of the conventional approach to performing Beethoven that was prevalent in the mid-20th century, for his performances reflect a preference for a full-size orchestral scale, modern instruments, and homogenization of timbres. Interestingly, Krips’ tempos tend toward the fast side, which early music orchestras would later adopt as the norm for period practice, especially in Beethoven. These recordings of the symphonies are solidly played and consistently clear in reproduction, and first-time listeners seeking a bargain could hardly do better than to try this set. –Blair Sanderson

Tracklist:

01. London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips – Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 ‘Eroica’ – I. Allegro con brio (14:50)
02. London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips – Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 ‘Eroica’ – II. Marcia funebre: Adagio assai (12:49)
03. London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips – Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 ‘Eroica’ – III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace (05:55)
04. London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips – Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55 ‘Eroica’ – IV. Finale: Allegro molto (11:22)

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