Beethoven: Symphonies (complete) / Overtures

Otto Klemperer's Beethoven is one of the towering achievements in the history of recordings. By today's standards, these performances are hopelessly old-fashioned: dark, heavy, and frequently very slow. But they are also the grandest, most unsentimental, most purposeful versions in the catalog. In addition, the relatively slow tempos (only in the fast movements--the slow ones are pretty swift) and forward wind balance permits more detail to be heard than in most original-instrument performances. At budget price and with a fantastic disc of overtures thrown in for good measure, this is greatness incarnate. --David Hurwitz