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California Philharmonic: Victor Vener (conductor); Shana Blake hill (soprano), Christina Wilcox (mezzo), Jonathan Mack (tenor), In Joon Jang (baritone), California Philharmonic Chorale (Donald Brinegar - director). Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Major, Op. 125. The Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena, CA.
Although Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was completed in 1824, it was not until a few years ago that all the inconsistencies and errors that had crept into the score were corrected. The corrections were edited by the musicologist Jonathan Del Mar and published by Bärenreiter. It was this corrected edition that was performed by the California Philharmonic under the leadership of its music director Victor Vener.
Risking the ire of the purists, Vener introduced each movement with understandable explanations of the corrections that had been made in the score. The largest revelation was the third movement adagio, which was performed at nearly twice the speed of the past erroneous versions. The movement became a flowing joy rather than a funeral drag. In fact, the entire performance glowed under Vener's direction, as if layers of decay had finally been removed from this great and last symphony by Beethoven.
We hope that all future performances of the Beethoven symphonies will adhere to the new Bärenreiter edition.
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My favorite recording of Beethoven's Ninth is by David Zinman conducting the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich on the Arte Nova label. Zinman uses the Bärenreiter edition in his performances of all the Beethoven symphonies.