Album

The question here is not whether a single disc can give its buyer a good idea of what Beethoven's music is like. The question is how this one stacks up against the other ones on the market, and in fact it's one of the best. Selections are drawn from the catalog of the Naxos label, which has specialized in innovative repertoire and low-budget but solid interpretations of classical standards, often arising outside the high-ticket German-French-British American axis. The artists represented here are all more than adequate to their tasks, although one might complain that among the several orchestras involved there is no way to connect an individual ensemble to an individual track. The selection is the strong point: Beethoven wrote music in many genres, but if you had to pick the three that defined its innovations, you would likely choose orchestral music, piano music, and chamber music, and those are the three represented here. Each is touched on in a paragraph in the single page of notes. Individual movements are offered, none truncated, and there's a good mix of accessible "hits" and pieces, like the slow movement of the Piano Trio in D, Op. 70, that are a bit less common. One wishes for something from one of the string quartets instead of the Cello Sonata in F major, Op. 5/1, and for piano music other than the overplayed "Moonlight" Sonata (the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2) and "Für Elise," neither of which is really typical of what Beethoven could do in this field. But the odds are good that the buyer who listens to this disc from beginning to end will be motivated to pick up more.

© James Manheim, All Music Guide

CD 1
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.9 in D-, Op.125 ('Choral') Work Bela Drahos Conductor, Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia Orchestra
1	2.Scherzo: Molto vivace. Presto	13:45			$2.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer The Creatures of Prometheus, Op.43 (ballet)...Act 1 Work Michael Halasz Conductor, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Orchestra
2	1.Overture: Adagio. Allegro molto con brio	5:03			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Trio in D, Op.70, No.1 ('Ghost') Work Jenö Jandó Piano, Csaba Onczay Cello, Takako Nishizaki Violin
3	2.Largo assai ed espressivo	9:47			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Piano Sonata No.14 in C#-, Op.27, No.2 ('Moonlight') Work Jenö Jandó Piano
4	1.Adagio sostenuto	5:15			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.7 in A, Op.92 Work Bela Drahos Conductor, Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia Orchestra
5	2.Allegretto	8:12			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Egmont (incidental music, after Goethe's play), Op.84 Work Stephen Gunzenhauser Conductor, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra
6	1.Overture: Sostenuto, ma non troppo. Allegro	8:30			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Bagatelle in A- ('Für Elise'), WoO59 Work Jenö Jandó Piano
7	Bagatelle in A- ('Für Elise'), WoO59	7:33			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Cello Sonata in F, Op.5, No.1 Work Jenö Jandó Piano, Csaba Onczay Cello
8	2.Rondo: Allegro vivace	7:15			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Symphony No.5 in C-, Op.67 Work Bela Drahos Conductor, Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia Orchestra
9	1.Allegro con brio	7:16			$1.49