BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONIES NOS. 1 AND 5. Philadelphia...

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONIES NOS. 1 AND 5. Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti. (Angel CDC 7 47447 2 (compact disc). While Muti’s readings, the first installment in a new Beethoven symphony cycle, won’t realign priorities or stun with their profound illuminations, they do reaffirm the Philadelphia’s renaissance as a great and responsive orchestra, purged of the adipose tissue of the late Ormandy era. Muti provides his share of surprises in the fifth symphony, notably in the expansive oboe solo in the first movement, and he places the first symphony squarely in a 19th-Century framework. But these immaculately recorded performances won’t displace previous favorites, despite Angel’s brilliant sonics.