Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Philharmonia Orchestra/Charles Mackerras
Hyperion
Owen E Walton is forthright on MusicWeb: "I will
say immediately that this latest cycle is perhaps the finest
that I have heard, if such a statement does not appear absurd.
For here we have all the gains of historically informed performance
and up to date research without the studied caution that so
many conductors have brought to the period performance movement
in recent years... To have the greatest works of one of our finest composers conducted
with such understanding by one of the late-twentieth century’s
finest and most enquiring conductors would be a privilege even
at full price. At Hyperion’s modest price tag this is certainly
the Beethoven set to have". This category represents the first time I've had to invoke a particular eligibility criterion: only one entry from a recording series is allowed among the finalists. In this case, two of Paavo Järvi's Beethoven symphony recordings made it to the shortlist, but I dropped the lower-ranked one (of the 4th and 7th symphonies).
Runners-up:
Beethoven: Symphonies nos.3 & 8. Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen/Paavo Järvi [RCA]
Ives: Symphonies nos.1 & 4. Dallas Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Litton [Hyperion]
Schumann: Symphonies nos.2 & 4 (Mahler versions). Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra/Riccardo Chailly [Decca]
Villa-Lobos: Symphony no.2; New York Skyline Melody. Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR/Carl St.Clair [CPO]
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