Conductor: Osmo Vänskä
BIS CD 1416
Release: 2005

Repertoire:
Symphony No. 4 in B flat Major
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor

The Minnesota Orchestra and Music Director Osmo Vänskä have released their first CD together: an all-Beethoven disc featuring the Fourth and Fifth symphonies. Recorded at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis in April 2004 using Super Audio CD technology, the disc is the first album in a five-year, five-disc cycle designed to record the complete Beethoven symphonies.

Recorded on the Swedish-based BIS label, an audiophile label known for its high quality, the Minnesota Orchestra Beethoven collection will be one of the first complete cycles of Beethoven’s symphonies recorded in Surround Sound.

The next two installments in the collection are now available featuring performances of Beethoven's Symphonies No. 3 and 8 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

What the Critics Are Saying

“Here is the modern Beethoven recording par excellence…”
—Andrew Clark, London Financial Times, February 15, 2005

“My Beethoven CD of the year...a deft balance of tradition and 'period' inflexion...”
—Andrew Clark, London Financial Times, December 10, 2005

“The glorious explosion into the finale, the sense of triumph of light over dark, is as thrilling as anyone makes it.”
—Stephen Pettitt, London Times, February 6, 2005

“. . . the whole orchestra shines in majestic joy without appearing at all self-important. This is something that Mr. Vänskä excels at over and over here: creating a sense of impending event, then delivering even more than he promised… .”