Beethoven: Complete Overtures

Beethoven: Complete Overtures

Beethoven: Complete Overtures
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CD Details

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Conductor: David Zinman
Orchestra: Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-04-12
Music Label: Arte Nova Classics
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (The Creatures of Prometheus), ballet, Op. 43: Overture
  2. Egmont, incidental music, Op. 84: Overture
  3. Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
  4. Leonore Overture No. 1 in C major, Op. 138
  5. Ruins of Athens, incidental music, Op. 113: Overture
  6. Leonore Overture No. 2 in C major, Op. 72a
Music CD 2
  1. Namensfeier (Name-Day Celebration) Overture for orchestra in C major, Op. 115
  2. Leonore Overture No. 3 in C major, Op. 72b
  3. Fidelio, overture, Op. 72c
  4. König Stephan (King Stephen), incidental music, Op. 117: Overture
  5. Die Weihe des Hauses (Consecration of the House), overture for orchestra, Op. 124

Music reviews of Beethoven: Complete Overtures

Music Review: Wonderfully fresh
Rating: 5 Stars

David Zinman and his Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich deliver what is, hands down, the best overture to the Ruins of Athens on disc. Zinman opens the work with great energy at a quick tempo - those of us familiar with Masur's slow and stately introduction will certainly feel as if they are hearing this familiar music for the first time. The oboe cadenza is delightfully zippy as Zinman plunges headlong into the allegro proper with such authoritative vitality that one almost feels foolish for not liking this work more, slight though it is on musical argument. Horns wail, strings dig, and winds bite in this marvelous traversal. This performance gave me several impressions. First, how nice it is to hear Beethoven (here and in his traversal of the symphonies) with smaller forces married to historically informed performance practices - hard mallets for the timpani, violins divided stereophonically, winds forwardly balanced. It has a tremendous amount of textual clarity which enhances the musical argument in no small part. Secondly, how impressive that even two hundred years after some of these pieces were composed they can still be played to the hilt with fresh energy and conviction. Even with the reduced string section, I would be curious if anyone could find other versions of these overtures with this much vigor. And finally, as always, its wonderful to hear a music director and his orchestra bring something new to familiar music, all the while maintaining the highest performance and musical standard. And the love both Zinman and the Tonhalle have for this music is immediately palpable.

The same level of energy Zinman brings to The Ruins of Athens runs throughout the entirety of this two-disc release. Prometheus certainly benefits from the scaled-down proportions of the orchestra, finding the perfect balance between classical grace and Beethoven's rougher energy. Coriolan is just as bit as convincing, free from the overly-romanticized patina that this work has amassed over the years. The Overture in C receives a particularly convincing interpretation. Listen to how Zinman maintains tension throughout the overly-repetitive music and certainly makes the most sense out of the often odd-sounding scales at near the end of the piece. It just goes to show that even less convincing works can sound convincing when played with this level of conviction. Fidelio is another winner, a performance of lively grace but imbued with appropriate power.

The Consecration of the House is a delight. Zinman shapes a cogent and appropriately Baroque sounding opening to the piece and, although the trumpets are a bit reticent in their fanfares, the textual clarity of it all is quite refreshing. The allegro certainly benefits from the antiphonal violin placement, a reading of uncanny transparency, culminating in a roaring conclusion. I still have the slightest preference for Masur's performance and no one can match Charles Munch's Boston Symphony reference interpretation in this work, but all in all it is simply a matter of taste and certainly Zinman offers steep competition. Zinman's reading of King Stephen is one of balanced, proportional energy befitting its classical nature but, when all is said and done, I still prefer Szell's all-or-nothing Cleveland traversal, which possesses unbelievable physicality. As for the three Lenore Overtures, Zinman's approaches are period appropriate, but it is slightly difficult to listen to Lenore No. 3 in this leaner state. I still prefer Gunter Wand's performance, one of almost excessive weight and physicality, but the excitement is unquestionable. Egmont again is wonderful, but seems slightly undernourished when compared to the competition. But preferences aside, Zinman's interpretations are as convincing as ever and offer tremendous musical nourishment.

Recorded sound is excellent throughout but the microphone placement seems to differ from work to work. In the performances where the orchestra is most distant, the horns can often sound recessed and slightly pinched (such as in Prometheus and Fidelio) or the timpani overly reverberant (Overture in C). Still, the playing is uniformly spectacular and these are small quips that in no way detract from the listening experience and become less noticeable after repeated outings.

This set is certainly a welcome addition to a field that, until now, had virtually no competition. That Masur's performances were uniformly splendid made the dearth of great Beethoven Overture compilations less frustrating, but this set, in modern sound with period performance techniques, is almost self-recommending. Comparing Masur to Zinman seems unfair as both offer so much and say such individual things that I could not imagine having one over the other. This is a welcome addition to the catalog, one that no Beethoven fan should be without.
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Description of Beethoven: Complete Overtures

"Of course this is what Beethoven is supposed to sound like. All the warmth, the breadth, the depth, the height, the solemnity, the hilarity, the agony, and, of course, the wild-eyed ecstasy that are in Beethoven in these performances of his complete Overtures by David Zinman leading the Tonhalle Orchestre Zurich. As Zinman proved in his cycle of the nine symphonies, he knows Beethoven, knows his music and his moods, knows when to hold back and when to let loose, when to dance and when to sing in blissful rapture. In his cycle of the 11 overtures, Zinman soars with Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus, rails with Egmont, roars with Coriolan, and laughs with König Stephen. Zinman is as heroic as Fidelio, as passionate as Leonore, and as countrapuntally intoxicated as Die Weihe des Hauses. The Tonhalle Orchestre, which showed itself an adept and powerful Beethoven orchestra in the symphonies, once again shows its colors, its strength, and its tenderness in the overtures. ! Arte Nova?s sound is deep, lush, and real."-ALL MUSIC GUIDE

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