LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

William Steinberg, who was assistant to Arturo Toscanini at the NBC Symphony Orchestra, became music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1952. In that year he and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra embarked on a Beethoven symphony cycle which utilized the new and sonically advantageous process of recording on 35mm film, which was supervised by engineer Bob Fine (who would soon introduce the sonic-standard-setting “Living Presence” recordings for Mercury).  Steinberg’s sober, self-effacing approach to Beethoven was warmly received by critics who praised the conductor for allowing the works to speak entirely for themselves. High Fidelity, the leading US classical-record magazine of the time, wrote “… Steinberg does not romanticize the music, but he knows how to turn a good phrase and draw out a singing line.” We release the symphonies altogether for the first time on CD in a 5CD package and digitally as single symphony albums.