Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe
00:00 - I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
16:20 - II. Molto vivace - Presto
27:38 - III. Adagio molto e cantabile - Andante moderato
43:47 - IV. Presto - "O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!" (Ode to Joy)

Performers:
Urszula Koszut, soprano
Brigitte Fassbaender, mezzo soprano
Nicolai Gedda, tenor
Donald McIntyre, bass
Münchner Motetten-Chor
Hans Rudolf Zöbeley, chorus master
Münchner Philharmoniker
Rudolf Kempe, conductor

Recorded: 31, May - 4, June, 1973, Bürgerbräu, Munich
https://www.discogs.com/ru/release/30...

"When Rudolf Kempe was principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic back in the 1970's, the culmination of his long career was the recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies – an edition marked by maturity and the highest artistic standards." - Presto Music

Audio Source:
Warner Music Japan / Tower Records Japan / SACD / Stereo
TDSA-136~141
https://tower.jp/item/5018550/%E3%83%...

https://www.hraudio.net/showmusic.php...

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical...
One of the great documents from conductor Rudolph Kempe's Munich period is this overwhelming version of Beethoven's Ninth with a set of hand-picked soloists, made in 1973, three years before Kempe's death. The pinnacle of a great conducting career with one of the most powerful works in the entire repertoire.

About the conductor:
https://www.allmusic.com/album/great-...
Great Conductors of the 20th Century: Rudolf Kempe Review by James Leonard
There's not much Rudolf Kempe left in print, not much Beethoven, Brahms, or Bruckner from one of the great German conductors of the postwar period. What is left, a Meistersinger and a set of the orchestral works of Strauss, is as close to definitive as it gets in this world, with its flexible tempos, epic poetry, and deep humanity. This edition of EMI's Great Conductors of the Twentieth Century presents a selection of Kempe's Beethoven, Brahms, and Bruckner, plus bits of his Ravel, Wolf, and Johann Strauss. All of them are excellent. Kempe's "Tragic" Overture is massive, his "Romantic" Symphony is monumental, and his "Eroica" Symphony is colossal, but all of it is supple and subtle and deeply human. His Ravel is airborne, his Wolf is clear light, and his Strauss is pure delight, but all of it is deeply human. The warm tone, the singing phrasing, the organic sense of form that imbues all these performances no matter what the orchestra is testimony to Kempe's own deep humanity. Each of these performances is wholly individualistic and utterly compelling, and all are as fine as the best recordings of the period. The digitally remastered sound of each is clear and warm and often as real as the LPs from which they came.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Fassbae...

https://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/7645
Review by ThierryN July 7, 2012 (5 of 9 found this review helpful)
"From the music persoective, I place this Kempe interpretation in my top 3.
...You get together the "raw material becoming music" of Beethoven, the breath, the structure and architecture in support, poetry when relevant, a wonderful detailed balance between instruments even when music is dense and poweful. Tempi seem just right because you never ask yourself about them or never feel the need to compare with others. You are just "taken" by the performance, moved, shaken, thrown on walls, taken back like a piece of wood on an ocean. You are taken by the music, you want it or not. And the feeling, even I listened to all the above versions for many decades,, that the music is just being built in front of your eyes and ears."

https://www.classical-music.com/featu...
When Rudolf Kempe made his Beethoven symphony cycle with the unfashionable Munich Philharmonic in the early 1970s, it was overshadowed by other, more glamorous interpretations, Herbert von Karajan’s in particular. But Kempe’s is a glorious Eroica, powerful and majestic, yet buoyed with lyricism and elegance. It remains a definitive point of reference.

Rudolf Kempe • Beethoven
   • Rudolf Kempe & Munich Philharmonic Or...