The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra/Kurt Masur: Beethoven, Egmont & Symphony No. 7

7 January 2013, 00:00

Two of Beethoven's great pieces on this album commemorating conductor Kurt Masur's 85th birthday. Drive Featured Album, 7 January 2013.

Beethoven's Egmont Overture is one of his best-known works, but rarely is the complete incidental music performed. Listening to the live recording from the Israel Philharmonic and Kurt Masur, with soprano Sharon Rostorf-Zamir, it's a mystery why this dramatic incidental music isn't better known.

Fans of Beethoven's symphonic works will appreciate Egmont's unexpected twists and turns as well as its brilliant tunes, made all the more exciting by the orchestra and Kurt Masur, one of the greatest Beethoven conductors of our time. But it's the explosive interpretation of Symphony No. 7 that steals the show. The brooding Allegretto, so often melancholy, pushes forward to the cheeky Presto and the musical fireworks in the final movement, the Allegro con brio.

Explore the wealth of Beethoven's vocal writing for yourself, crowned with a brilliant reworking of familiar classic - hold on to your hats.