To commemorate 35 years of Antal Doráti’s passing in 2023, the long unavailable and scintillating recordings of his complete Beethoven symphonies with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, combining weight and depth with dancelike clarity, are now presented in a new CD edition.

As with fellow Hungarians-in-exile: Fritz Reiner, George Szell and Georg Solti, Antal Doráti (1906–1988), one of the mid-twentieth century’s most able conductors, made Beethoven a central repertoire choice. This Beethoven symphony cycle was recorded in 1975/1976 at the beginning of Doráti’s tenure as principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The 5-CD set includes liner notes (EN/DE) by well-acclaimed British music broadcaster and writer Rob Cowan and comes with a stunning cover art adapted from the original LP release.

Tracklist:

CD 1

Symphony No. 1 in C major op. 21

1. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio
2. Andante cantabile con moto
3. Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace – Trio
4. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace

Symphony No. 3 in E flat major “Eroica” op. 55

1. Allegro con brio
2. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai
3. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio
4. Allegro molto – Poco andante – Presto

CD 2

Symphony No. 2 in D major op. 36

1. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio
2. Larghetto
3. Scherzo. Allegro – Trio
4. Allegro molto

Symphony No. 4 in B flat major op. 60

1. Adagio – Allegro vivace
2. Adagio
3. Allegro molto e vivace – Trio. Un poco meno allegro
4. Allegro ma non troppo

CD 3

Symphony No. 5 in C minor op. 67

1. Allegro con brio
2. Andante con moto
3. Allegro
4. Allegro

Symphony No. 6 in F major “Pastoral” op. 68

1. Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande (Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country): Allegro ma non troppo
2. Szene am Bach (Scene by the brook): Andante molto mosso
3. Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute (Merry gathering of country folk): Allegro
4. Gewitter – Sturm (Thunderstorm): Allegro
5. Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm (Shepherd’s Song: Happy and thankful feelings after the storm): Allegretto

CD 4

Symphony No. 7 in A major op. 92

1. Poco sostenuto – Vivace
2. Allegretto
3. Presto
4. Allegro con brio

Symphony No. 8 in F major op. 93

1. Allegro vivace e con brio
2. Allegretto scherzando
3. Tempo di menuetto
4. Allegro vivace

CD 5

Symphony No. 9 in D minor “Choral” op. 125

1. Allegro ma non troppo e un poco maestoso
2. Molto vivace – Presto
3. Adagio molto e cantabile – Andante moderato
4. Presto – Allegro assai – Presto –
5. 5 Rezitativo: »O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!« – Allegro assai (Final chorus from Schiller’s ode “To Joy”)

Carole Farley (soprano)

Alfreda Hodgson (alto)

Stuart Burrows (tenor)

Norman Bailey (bass)

Brighton Festival Chorus (Chorus Master: László Heltay)