Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies.(Sound recording review)

Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies. Eugen Jochum, Concertgebouw Orchestra. Philips Original Masters 475 8147.

Some years ago, I overheard the manager of a classical record store telling a customer that he thought Eugen Jochum and Karl Bohm were mere "kapellmeisters," routine bandleaders, neither more nor less. I kept out of it, but I couldn't help thinking how differently I felt about these conductors. Both of them were leaders of great orchestras for something like six decades, and both of them produced recordings that even today are among the best ever made. Jochum, for instance, has never been surpassed in his recorded performances of the late Haydn symphonies, the Brahms Piano Concertos (with Emil Gilels), the Mozart "Jupiter" Symphony, or Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, to name just a few. "Mere kapellmeister," indeed!

To my knowledge, Jochum recorded the complete Beethoven symphonies in stereo three times: First on DG in the fifties with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Bavarian RSO; then in the sixties on Philips, in the set we have here with the Concertgebouw; and finally in the seventies on EMI with the LSO. I've heard most of these recordings at one time or another, and each of them has its merits. But at the moment it's from Philips that we get the complete cycle in a budget-priced box, and while one can always do better buying individual conductors and recordings, this box is an excellent buy at the price for a compete set. Granted, the set might not be an absolute and only first choice for the classical music fan, but for the avid collector, the curious experimenter, or the casual listener, one can hardly lose.

Everyone will have personal favorites among the Jochum-Philips group, mine being Nos. 4 and 8. Perhaps because they are not among the biggest and most-popular of Beethoven's symphonies, they do not have as much competition; be that as it may, I find them wholly enjoyable, musical, lyrical, spirited, and joyous. At the other end of the spectrum, the only symphony in the set I don't think finds Jochum at his best is No. 5. There, he seems to lack the ...