BEETHOVEN Symphonies
Sheila Armstrong, soprano
Linda Finnie, mezzo-soprano
Robert Tear, tenor
John Tomlinson, bass
Philharmonia Chorus (Heinz Mende, chorus master)
The Philharmonia Orchestra
Kurt Sanderling, conductor
EMI SLS 5239 - 8 stereo LPs [P] 1981
39 stereo FLAC files (96 khz, 24 bit) + booklet
Here are the complete Beethoven Symphonies (plus four overtures) recorded by Kurt Sanderling with the Philharmonia Orchestra, published in 1981. The recording was sponsored by du Maurier (a Canadian tobacco company) and recorded by Mergegate Limited, with assistance from EMI, using "the revolutionary Digital system of recording which reproduces true concert hall acoustics with remarkable effect".
A contemporaneous Gramophone review stated, "Thomas Heinitz talks of Sanderling reminding him of Klemperer in his Beethoven with its 'rugged, unvarnished honesty', and that is generally confirmed in these fine, concentrated readings; and no doubt he will be surprised to find that it is not just the manner but the tempos too which echo the veteran Klemperer".