Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 - CD

ENGLISH

DDD<br> <br> Supraphon marks the 10th anniversary of the Czechoslovak 'Velvet' Revolution with a re-release of its original recording of the legendary 'Concert for the Civic Forum', which was held on 14th December 1989 in the Smetana Hall of Prague's Municipal House in reaction to the formation of the new Czechoslovak government and was attended by Václav Havel, who was soon to become the country's president. The event was a momentous one for conductor Václav Neumann and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, who several months prior to the events of November 1989 had refused to cooperate with the communist mass media in protest against the harrassment of signatories of the political declaration 'A Few Sentences'. The conductor immediately invited prestigious soloists from abroad to participate in the concert alongside Gabriela Beňačková, Czechoslovakia's leading soprano during the 1980s. Ten years on, in new release, our recording is not only free of the technical imperfections of the period in which it was originally made but still retains its most essential qualities: the heartfelt enthusiasm of those days, and an overall mood of hope, humanity and belief in the triumph of truth.