Beethoven - Symphonies Nos 4 & 7

There are dozens of recordings coupling these two works, so why is this one so different? Well, for a start, it combines the virtues of a period instrument performance with the use of modern instruments. Béla Drahos employs an orchestra the size that Beethoven probably used - smaller than the one we normally hear in the concert hall today - and combines that with the clean texture of instruments from the composer's time. Or to put it another way you get two views for the price of one!

The Fourth is often viewed as one of Beethoven's lightweight symphonies, but wait till you hear this performance. Drahos makes it just as virile and substantial as the Seventh. Yet the later symphony must rank as one of the most sublime moments in music.

The recording was made in October 1995 in the ideal acoustic of the Italian Institute in Budapest.

"If you are starting a collection, this is the Beethoven cycle to have"
- BBC Music Magazine.