To commemorate 35 years of Antal Doráti’s passing in 2023, the long unavailable and scintillating recordings of his complete Beethoven symphonies with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, combining weight and depth with dancelike clarity, are now presented in a new CD edition.

As with fellow Hungarians-in-exile: Fritz Reiner, George Szell and Georg Solti, Antal Doráti (1906–1988), one of the mid-twentieth century’s most able conductors, made Beethoven a central repertoire choice. This Beethoven symphony cycle was recorded in 1975/1976 at the beginning of Doráti’s tenure as principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The 5-CD set includes liner notes (EN/DE) by well-acclaimed British music broadcaster and writer Rob Cowan and comes with a stunning cover art adapted from the original LP release.

Tracklist:

CD 1

Symphony No. 1 in C major op. 21

Adagio molto – Allegro con brio
Andante cantabile con moto
Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace – Trio
Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace

Symphony No. 3 in E flat major “Eroica” op. 55

Allegro con brio
Marcia funebre. Adagio assai
Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio
Allegro molto – Poco andante – Presto

CD 2

Symphony No. 2 in D major op. 36

Adagio molto – Allegro con brio
Larghetto
Scherzo. Allegro – Trio
Allegro molto

Symphony No. 4 in B flat major op. 60

Adagio – Allegro vivace
Adagio
Allegro molto e vivace – Trio. Un poco meno allegro
Allegro ma non troppo

CD 3

Symphony No. 5 in C minor op. 67

Allegro con brio
Andante con moto
Allegro
Allegro

Symphony No. 6 in F major “Pastoral” op. 68

Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande (Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country): Allegro ma non troppo
Szene am Bach (Scene by the brook): Andante molto mosso
Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute (Merry gathering of country folk): Allegro
Gewitter – Sturm (Thunderstorm): Allegro
Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm (Shepherd’s Song: Happy and thankful feelings after the storm): Allegretto

CD 4

Symphony No. 7 in A major op. 92

Poco sostenuto – Vivace
Allegretto
Presto
Allegro con brio

Symphony No. 8 in F major op. 93

Allegro vivace e con brio
Allegretto scherzando
Tempo di menuetto
Allegro vivace

CD 5

Symphony No. 9 in D minor “Choral” op. 125

Allegro ma non troppo e un poco maestoso
Molto vivace – Presto
Adagio molto e cantabile – Andante moderato
Presto – Allegro assai – Presto –
5 Rezitativo: »O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!« – Allegro assai (Final chorus from Schiller’s ode “To Joy”)

Carole Farley (soprano)

Alfreda Hodgson (alto)

Stuart Burrows (tenor)

Norman Bailey (bass)

Brighton Festival Chorus (Chorus Master: László Heltay)

Antal Doráti

Beethoven Complete Symphonies

Antal Doráti: The Complete Decca Haydn Recordings