Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 (Live) Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus & Robert Shaw

• 1 I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso 16:22
• 2 II. Molto vivace; Presto; Molto vivace 11:04
• 3 III. Adagio molto e cantabile 16:00
• 4 IV. Presto 23:42
• 5 applause 08:41
• Total Runtime 01:15:49

Info zu Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 (Live)

As part of the celebration of Robert Shaw’s centenary, the Atlanta Symphony is issuing for public sale this live recording of the Beethoven Symphony No. 9, recorded in a single concert with Mr. Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus just prior to their triumphant 1988 tour to Europe.

This recording sets to rights a major gap in the recorded legacy of Robert Shaw. As a young man, Robert Shaw prepared the chorus for the legendary 1952 Arturo Toscanini NBC Symphony recording. Shaw performed it countless times in his own career. He recorded the Ninth Symphony for Pro Arte in 1985 but it was not satisfactory either as a performance or as a recording. Later in the 1980s when it would have been possible to re-record the Symphony in our ongoing relationship with Telarc, the 9th was o the table because Telarc had committed themselves to a complete Beethoven cycle with The Cleveland Orchestra and its then Music Director, Christoph von Dohnányi. By 1999, enough time had passed since the release of the Cleveland cycle. Telarc’s founding producer Robert Woods began planning a Beethoven 9th for Mr. Shaw which ultimately did not come to pass, owing to Mr. Shaw’s death just months before the scheduled recording dates.

In recent years, Robert Woods has been digitizing all the historic Atlanta Symphony live broadcast tapes. When it came time to preserve the May 21, 1988 Ninth Symphony, Woods wrote to John White, our longtime board member whose generosity funds the preservation of the tapes and this release: “This performance is one of those in which all of the participants were playing for the sake of the music and were caught up in a vortex of musical union and humanity the likes of which you just don’t encounter very often, if ever in a lifetime.” I think you will agree. (Evans Mirageas Vice-President for Artistic Planning and Operations Atlanta Symphony Orchestra)

Benita Valente, soprano
Janice Taylor, mezzo-soprano
Richard Leech, tenor
William Stone, baritone
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Robert Shaw, conductor