Vladimir Ashkenazy recorded three of the Beethoven symphonies for Decca and this coupling of two of the most popular date from the early 1980s. They are grand and expressive readings, at once thrilling and visionary.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
Philharmonia Orchestra
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Recording Producer: Andrew Cornall
Balance Engineers: Colin Moorfoot, John Dunkerley
Recording Location: Kingsway Hall, London, UK, 24–25 March 1981 (Symphony No. 5), 25–26 October 1983 (Symphony No. 7)
‘the slow movement […] has that feeling of spontaneous live performance which has marked most of Ashkenazy’s conducting on record … The recording […] is wide-ranging in the spread of stereo and warmly atmospheric’ (Symphony No. 5) Gramophone
*** ‘a vivid and urgent reading of the Fifth, with well-chosen speeds for all four movements … ‘a warmly spontaneous, generally direct reading taken at sensible unexaggerated speeds […] there are few modern Beethoven recordings so satisfying or more alive than this with sound – recorded in Kingsway Hall – which sets new standards against any rival version, full and spacious yet warmly co-ordinated’ (Symphony No. 7) Gramophone, November 1984