Minnesota Orchestra Released Beethoven Symphony Cycle CD

The new album is part of a five-year, five-disc initiative to record the complete Beethoven symphonies. The disc is now available in stores, at minnesotaorchestra.org and as a download on major internet music sites.

Vänskä and the Orchestra recorded the First and Sixth Symphonies at Minneapolis’ Orchestra Hall in sessions during June 2007. The BIS team, led by Producer Rob Suff, recorded the album as a Super Audio CD (SACD), using surround sound recording technology to reproduce the sound of the concert hall as faithfully as possible. BIS hybrid SACDs are playable on all standard CD players.

Fourth release in acclaimed cycle

The new CD follows three highly-praised predecessors in the series, which The New York Times wrote may be “the definitive [Beethoven cycle] of our time.” Released in January 2005, the first album (featuring Beethoven’s Fourth and Fifth Symphonies) was labeled “the modern Beethoven recording par excellence” (Financial Times, London) and “beautifully realized in every respect” (ClassicsToday.com). In May 2006, critical raves greeted the release of the second CD, which features the Third (Eroica) and Eighth Symphonies: The Times (London) called the recording “outstanding,” and The Daily Telegraph wrote, “These are fiery, scrupulously detailed performances à la Toscanini.” The Grammy-nominated third recording, which showcases four vocal soloists and the Minnesota Chorale in a performance of the Ninth (Choral) Symphony, was hailed as “a Beethoven Ninth for our times” (BBC Music Magazine) and “some of the most vivid Beethoven playing on the market” (The New Yorker) after its release in October 2006.

The Beethoven cycle has enjoyed commercial success in stores and online. The second album debuted at number 16 on Billboard’s classical charts in May 2006, and the Orchestra’s recording of the Ninth Symphony was eMusic’s top classical download in January 2007.

In January 2008 Vänskä and the Orchestra will record Beethoven’s Second and Seventh Symphonies for the fifth and final album in the cycle. -- www.minnesotaorchestra.org