Album

When people think of the conductor Eugen Jochum they think first of his Bruckner and of the vast melodies, the enormous harmonies, the endless sequences, the eternal tempos, and the infinite lengths of his interpretations of that late nineteenth century Austrian peasant mystic's symphonies. Jochum's two complete cycles of Bruckner's symphonies—one in the '60s for Deutsche Grammophon and the other in the '70s for EMI—are commonly held by devotees to be the greatest ever recorded. At the time, however, Jochum's name was in many ways even more closely linked with Beethoven's. He recorded the complete cycle of Beethoven's symphonies three times—first in the '50s for DG, then in the '60s for Philips, and finally in the '70s for EMI—but when they think of him, many people have trouble remembering Jochum recorded them even once, much less with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic. The relevant question, though, is what does the echt Brucknerian Jochum do with Beethoven?

He doesn't do Bruckner with him. In this six-disc set of his '60s cycle with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Jochum's Beethoven is strong, supple, straight, and true. His tempos are muscular and flexible. His rhythms are powerful and direct. His themes are shaped and sculpted. His structures are lucid and dramatic. His climaxes are inevitable and incontrovertible. Jochum sometimes pushes forward in developments and sometimes pulls back at recapitulations, but he unfailingly keeps the music driving relentlessly toward ultimate transcendence of the coda. The Concertgebouw plays for its principal guest conductor with a polished ensemble, a rough-hewn sound, and a dedication that could easily pass for devotion. Compared with his Bruckner, Jochum's Beethoven is an enlightened revolutionary, a spiritual humanist, and far and away the greatest symphonist of all time. On the evidence of these recordings, when people think of Eugen Jochum, perhaps they should think first of Beethoven. Philips' late-'60s stereo sound is absolutely translucent and undeniably present.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide

CD 1 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.1 in C, Op.21 Work Recorded 1967 26:29 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
1	1.Adagio molto. Allegro con brio	9:41			$1.49
2	2.Andante cantabile con moto	6:47			$0.99
3	3.Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace	4:02			$0.99
4	4.Finale: Adagio. Allegro molto e vivace	5:59			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.2 in D, Op.36 Work Recorded 1969 34:49 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
5	1.Adagio molto. Allegro con brio	12:27			$1.99
6	2.Larghetto	11:59			$1.99
7	3.Scherzo: Allegro	3:49			$0.99
8	4.Allegro molto	6:34			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Leonore Overture No.1, Op.138 Work Recorded 1968 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
9	Leonore Overture No.1, Op.138	9:11			$1.49
CD 2 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.3 in Eb, Op.55 ('Eroica') Work Recorded 1969 52:04 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
1	1.Allegro con brio	18:26			$2.99
2	2.Marcia funebre: Adagio assai	16:02			$2.99
3	3.Scherzo: Allegro vivace	5:59			$0.99
4	4.Finale: Allegro molto	11:37			$1.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Leonore Overture No.3 in C, Op.72b Work Recorded 1969 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
5	Leonore Overture No.3 in C, Op.72b	13:32			$2.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Fidelio Overture, Op.72c Work Recorded 1968 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
6	Fidelio Overture, Op.72c	6:26			$0.99
CD 3 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.4 in Bb, Op.60 Work Recorded 1968 36:08 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
1	1.Adagio. Allegro vivace	12:36			$1.99
2	2.Adagio	10:00			$1.99
3	1.Adagio. Allegro vivace	6:16			$0.99
4	4.Allegro ma non troppo	7:16			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.7 in A, Op.92 Work Recorded 1967 37:59 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
5	1.Poco sostenuto. Vivace	12:49			$1.99
6	2.Allegretto	10:00			$1.99
7	3.Scherzo: Presto	7:54			$1.49
8	4.Finale: Allegro con brio	7:16			$1.49
CD 4 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.5 in C-, Op.67 Work Recorded 1968 32:49 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
1	1.Allegro con brio	7:45			$1.49
2	2.Andante con moto	10:28			$1.99
3	3.Scherzo: Allegro	5:43			$0.99
4	4.Allegro	8:53			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.8 in F, Op.93 Work Recorded 1969 26:15 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
5	1.Allegro vivace e con brio	9:23			$1.49
6	2.Allegretto scherzando	4:01			$0.99
7	3.Tempo di menuetto	5:20			$0.99
8	4.Allegro vivace	7:31			$1.49
CD 5 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.6 in F, Op.68 ('Pastoral') Work Recorded 1968 43:14 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
1	1.Allegro ma non troppo: Angenehme, heitere Empfindungen, welche bei der Ankunft (Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the countryside)	10:38			$1.99
2	2.Andante molto mosso: Szene am Bach (Scene by the brook)	13:17			$2.49
3	3.Allegro: Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute (Merry gathering of country folk)	5:57			$0.99
4	4.Allegro: Donner. Sturm (Thunder, storm)	4:02			$0.99
5	5.Allegretto: Hirtengesang. Wohltätige, mit Dank and die Goltheit verbundene Gefühle nach dem Sturm (Shepherds' song. Beneficent feelings with thanks to the Godhead after the storm)	9:20			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Leonora Overture No.2, Op.72a Work Recorded 1969 Eugen Jochum Conductor, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra
6	Leonora Overture No.2, Op.72a	14:10			$2.49
CD 6 of 6
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.9 in D-, Op.125 ('Choral') Work Recorded 1969 1:08:07 Anton de Ridder Tenor, Eugen Jochum Conductor, Anna Reynolds Contralto, Gerd Feldhoff Bass, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir Chorus/Choir, Liselotte Rebmann Soprano
1	1.Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso	16:17			$2.99
2	2.Scherzo: Molto vivace. Presto	11:08			$1.99
3	3.Adagio molto e cantabile	16:53			$2.99
4	4.Presto. Allegro assai ('Ode to Joy'; complete)	7:20			$1.49
5	4b.O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! - 4h.Prestissimo (end)	16:29			$2.99