Beethoven: Complete Symphonies (Nos 1-9)

"These discs are history: nine indubitable masterpieces lovingly recorded in gripping reinterpretations of our age."
(NZ Herald)

Gramophone Magazine Critic's Choice 2003

"I know the set has been described as controversial and as work-in-progress, but since when has artistic endeavour of this magnitude been anything other than a lifetime's work?"
(Gramophone)

The 9 Beethoven Symphonies are considered to be one of the greatest musical testaments of all time, and are a key staple in every conductor's repertoire

Simon Rattle conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in live concerts recorded between 29 April and 17 May 2002 at the historic Musikverein in Vienna. Joining Rattle as soloists in the Symphony No.9 are Barbara Bonney, Birgit Remmert, Kurt Streit, and Thomas Hampson

The packaging is luxurious, and includes substantial essays on the music bound in a hardback book

"Rattle's long-awaited Beethoven cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic is on the whole a triumph - a superbly played account by one of the world's great orchestras, under a conductor whose historically aware performances never fail to stamp the music with real personality. Rattle's must now be the strongest recommendation among modern Beethoven cycles."
***** Five Stars (Pick of the Month) BBC Music Magazine (April 03)

There have been many recordings of Beethoven's complete symphonies but this, with the auspicious Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra working their magic, will surely rank up there with the best of them. If you need any more tempting, Barbara Bonney, Birgit Remmert, Kurt Streit, Thomas Hampson and the City Of Birmingham Symphony Chorus join Mr Rattle and the VPO in an epic reading of the ninth.