http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000001G63I have a couple versions of this work. This one is very special. The timing, communication, spiritual energy of this performance is awesome. This is one of my favorite recordings. It is a technical masterpiece in its compositional structure, but at the same time it is a tender, intimate and friendly face on a composer usually writing in more serious terms. It is fresh, childlike, innocent, inspiring. But at the same time, the melody lines fit together so perfectly it proves divine inspiration. It is deceptively simple on first listen. But soon the melodies will be haunting you all day. Then you will start to hear the deep maturity in the rythmic and emotional interpretations of the three soloists. Their masterful instrumental tone, and positive enthusiastic feeling combine to make this one of those once in a lifetime performances that you are so grateful was captured on tape. HVK is not known for graceful, insihgtful interpretations, especially of the preeminent german masters like Beethoven. But this is a charming surprise that shows his musical depth. Tempo is everything on such strong melodic works, and he gets it right, along with the pace and groove of all three movements. If you are a Beethovian, I would recommend you grab this and give it a few hundred listenings. Like a great jazz record, it takes that many to get it all, and to feel you have really heard it.
This Egmont (on the B side) is also my favorite version. More in the expected tradition of HVK, this is ballsy, scary, penetrating, powerful like the composer intended. It starts off low loud, dark and forboding then gets big, concise, grandiose, relentless. The beginning is very difficult to conduct to the full musical potential. Conductors often don't have the balls to speak like this. Karajan had no fear of powerful music. One of my best Beethoven symphonic recordings.
