Cluytens/BPO: Beethoven Symphonies 8 & 9 - Dutch Columbia WCLP 555/56

$

135

ITEM DESCRIPTION:

A set rare in any pressing is André Cluytens’ 2LP box set housing his remarkable accounts of Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 9 in D minor Op. 125 "Choral" and No. 8 in F Major Op. 93, both taped in December 1957 at the Grunewaldkirche, Berlin. It is here offered in a beautiful 2LP box set from Dutch Columbia (WCLP 555-556, Holland pressing, plum/silver semi-circle Large Dog label – ED1, mono, original stitched inner sleeves and booklet included).

In Beethoven's Ninth Cluytens is joined by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Choir of St. Hedwig's Cathedral (Director: Karl Forster) and soloists Gré Brouwenstijn (Soprano), Kerstin Meyer (Alto), Nicolai Gedda (Tenor), and Frederick Guthrie (Bass).  For the interested, the movement timings for the "Choral" Symphony are as follows: I18:06, II 11:28, III 17:21, IV 25:34 – total time: 72:45. 

A note on the set’s production values. This edition from Dutch Columbia is, in my opinion, more attractive than the more familiar French La Voix de son Maitre FALP version.  The heavy cloth box is much sturdier, the full-size booklet more impressive, with a fine textured paper cover, notes (with musical examples), photos and an appreciation of Cluytens, and vocal texts to Schiller’s Ode – all texts in German only. In addition, this set was issued with the thick stitched sleeves one sometimes sees with German Electrola editions. Finally, the labels are quite beautiful, the plum background with crisp silver script – lovely!

Though it preceded von Karajan’s more famous traversal, recorded during the winter of 1961/62 for Deutsche Grammophon, Cluyten’s cycle never equaled the latter in terms of sales or reputation, the DG set remaining the most widely sold, both in terms of distribution and volume, ever released.  But if French EMI’s marketing resources could not match the high-powered campaign mobilized for Karajan, it could still take pride in having issued arguably the finest integral cycle of the post-war era. 

Expansive, resilient, and powerfully moulded, Cluyten’s Beethoven boasts a deeply burnished sound allied to an unflagging energy and concentration – nowhere more so than in this thrilling, and deeply moving Ninth.  In short, it’s an enthralling performance, with the Berlin Philharmonic, St. Hedwig’s Choir, and the four distinguished soloists on tremendous form throughout, sweeping all before it. The sound, produced/engineered by René Challan /Horst Lindner is uniformly outstanding, warm and spacious, well matching the breadth and depth of the performance.

CONDITION – PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

The condition of the box is EXCELLENT. The only real flaws consist of some minor writing to the front panel and to the spine. In addition, there is slight edgewear and discoloration. However, there are no corner breaks, seamsplits, bends, or other defects and the whole remains extremely solid, bright, and impressive in appearance – overall, a very handsome collector's collector's copy.

The condition of the full-size 6-page booklet is EXCELLENT. There is minor bumping/wear at corners, as well as some light discoloration to the front panel, but that is all. The pages remain bright and crisp, and binding perfect – overall, an excellent collector's copy.

The condition of the two original inner sleeves is VERY GOOD. Both show a bit of wear and discoloration (moldy spotting – only on the outside, however – the LPs were not affected by this). On the plus side, there are no seamsplits and both remain solid. I have also included two new standard poly-lined paper sleeves.

The condition of the 2 LPs is VERY GOOD++ throughout. The surfaces are not CD silent, but the surface noise is not overly obtrusive and the playback remains superb – with big, open, and rich sound. However, if you must have flawless or near-MINT copies, then please do not buy this set. Overall, these rate as very good collector’s copies.