Kurt Masur - Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4 (2016)

This release features former Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Kurt Masur, who conducted more than 150 performances in London and internationally during his tenure (2000-2007). Masur inaugurated the launch of the LPO label in 2005 with live performances of Shostakovichs Symphonies Nos. 1 and 5. Sadly, Kurt Masur passed away in December 2015. This pair of concert recordings from 2004 pays tribute to his musical legacy: he conducted Beethoven with insight, cohesion, and these concert performences were conducted from memory. When audiences heard Beethovens First Symphony, they were struck by something new in the air- there is no mistaking its Beethovenian energy and dash. Released for the first time on the Orchestras Label, Symphonies 1 and 4 contribute to the expanding collection of Beethoven works on the label; the most recent being Beethovens Fifth conducted by Tennstedt. Often neglected between the more famous Third and Fifth, the Fourth Symphony is a jourous work which inspired many of Beethovens contemporaries, including Schumann and Berlioz. Its propelled with unstoppable momentum and buoyancy, after a searching opening perhaps inspired by Haydns Representation of Chaos.