Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5
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Composer: Ludwig van BeethovenConductor: Osmo Vänskä
Orchestra: Minnesota Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
CD Release Date: 2005-01-25
Music Label: Bis
Soundtracks:
- I. Adagio - Allegro Vivace
- II. Adagio
- III. Allegro Molto E Vivace - Un Poco Meno Allegro
- IV. Allegr Ma Non Troppo
- I. Allegro Con Brio
- II. Andante Con Moto
- III. Allegro
- IV. Allegro
Music reviews of Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5
Music Review: A pleasant version of updated Beethoven, leaving out the heroics entirely
Rating: 3 Stars
I fear that the bandwagon effect is at work among the five-star brigade at Amazon. Osmo Vanska has won widespread, at times extravagant praise for his now complete Beethoven cycle from Minnesota. That would lead a prospective buyer to expect something new, revolutionary, groundbreaking, and invidivual in this pairing of Sym. #4 and #5. I don't hear that at all. This sounds like a pleasant, well drilled, slightly updated version of the period style which began in the Eighties with Roger Norrington and John Eliot Gardiner. But Vanska is blander than either.
In the concert hall, you will never hear a major orchestra play flat-out in period style, but tempos have sped up, and here and there a major conductor (Rattle, Abbado, Haitink) has absorbed more of the style, reducing the string body, asking for hard sticks on the timpani, and lessening violin vibrato. But all of that is superficial. The important thing is to convey the indomitable spirit of Beethoven, who didn't see himself as pumped-up Haydn, which is what we have here. Beethoven was a full-blown revolutionary, and trying to squeeze him back into the box of pre-1800 classicism makes no sense.
Since the Fourth is the more lyrical and graceful of these two symphonies, Vanska's diluted interpretation is easier to take. The first movement is conventional in tempo, as is the flowing Adagio, here taken as an Andante, which sings nicely. The wind soloists are pleasant without being virtuosic in any way, but virtuosity isn't a must here. The Scherzo is not exceptionally fast, but Vanska has ironed out Beethoven's accents and produced a rather bland result. The finale, taken at normal tempo, is subdued too much -- it's controlled instead of rollicking or abandoned. In all, a performance that is innocuous and smooth. (If you want to hear a revoluitnary stab at the Fourth, look for Carlos Kleiber's live reading on Orfeo.)
The Fifth is a cornerstone of the Romantic movement, so diluting it feels wrong to me. Vanska's approach is Szell-lite: he keeps a steady tempo, eschew expressive rubato, and aims for precision and discipline. I can see why a whole school of listeners would prefer this style even if I don't. What I can't see is waxing ecstatic over such a cautious version of it when you can have Szell, Toscanini, and Erich Kleiber at full strength. Vanska deliberately drains the first and last movements of power, excitement, and heroism. Tempos are convenitonal throughout; the temperature is low. The playing is plesant, and the phrasing goes down easily.
If that's enough to satisfy you, as apparently it satisfies many listeners, I can't argue. Tastes change. But I thought it was worthwhile for newcomers to know what they are in for, in case they had heard that Toscanini and Furtwanglr had met their match.
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