By and large, the transfers offer noticeable if not drastic sonic advances over previous incarnations. There's more focus to the lower strings and woodwinds, plus improved definition in note attacks and timpani strokes. Fashions in Beethoven playing have gone through several phases since these recordings first appeared. Indeed, the conductor's dark, foreboding countenance, expressive severity, and implacable pacing will seem utterly anachronistic to fans of Beethoven on period instruments. The music may take shape slowly under Klemperer's guidance, but damned if it doesn't move. Every phrase, each orchestral balance, and all transitional junctures patiently unfold, and pull you in with the force of a hidden, powerful magnet. This approach proves spellbinding for the symphonies and overtures, yet makes for a more ponderous effect in the concertos. What was grand has now turned fussy, and the young Barenboim's self-consciously pointed pianism generally yields to the greater harmonic sophistication, technical finesse, and spiritual penetration of Arrau's similar, yet maturer conceptions. Moreover, Klemperer exerted less control over his orchestra in the late 1960s than his relatively healthier self a decade earlier when the symphonies were made. For the symphonies alone, though, this box set still constitutes a great bargain, and remains a milestone in the history of Beethoven recordings.
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com Read less
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