Symphony No. 2 "It is so long since I felt the warm radiance of true joy," wrote Beethoven in 1802, when the fact of his progressing deafness brought him to despair, yet "radiant" well describes the symphony from this period. "The most lighthearted of these works [the Beethoven symphonies] is the Second Symphony," writes Michael Mark, "and while Klemperer's shaping of the outer movements has a good deal of power and drama, geniality and lyricism are here as well. The same can be said for the middle movements. In fact, Klemperer can do these things to a greater degree than another giant known for a monumental approach to Beethoven: Furtwängler. The Philharmonia plays its heart out for the man."