Beethoven: The Nine Symphonies
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CD Details
Composer: Ludwig van BeethovenConductor: Georg Solti
Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Jessye Norman
Performer: Robert Schunk
Performer: Reinhild Runkel
Performer: Hans Sotin
Edition: Music CD
Format: Box set
CD Release Date: 1990-09-11
Music Label: Decca
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21: 1. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio
- Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21: 2. Andante cantabile con moto
- Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21: 3. Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace
- Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21: 4. Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace
- Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36: 1. Adagio molto - Allegro con brio
- Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36: 2. Larghetto
- Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36: 3. Scherzo: Allegro
- Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36: 4. Alelgro molto
- Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ('Eroica'), Op. 55: 1. Allegro con brio
- Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ('Eroica'), Op. 55: 2. Marcia funebre: Adagio assai
- Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ('Eroica'), Op. 55: 3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace
- Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ('Eroica'), Op. 55: 4. Finale: Allegro molto
- Egmont, incidental music, Op. 84: Overture
- Symphony No. 5 in C minor ('Fate'), Op. 67: 1. Allegro con brio
- Symphony No. 5 in C minor ('Fate'), Op. 67: 2. Andante con moto
- Symphony No. 5 in C minor ('Fate'), Op. 67: 3. Allegro
- Symphony No. 5 in C minor ('Fate'), Op. 67: 4. Allegro
- Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60: 1. Adagio - Allegro vivace
- Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60: 2. Adagio
- Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60: 3. Allegro vivace
- Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60: 4. Allegro ma non troppo
- Symphony No. 6 in F major ('Pastoral'), Op. 68: 1. Allegro ma non troppo. Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arriving in the country
- Symphony No. 6 in F major ('Pastoral'), Op. 68: 2. Andante molto mosso. By the brook
- Symphony No. 6 in F major ('Pastoral'), Op. 68: 3. Allegro. Peasants' merrymaking
- Symphony No. 6 in F major ('Pastoral'), Op. 68: 4. Allegro. Thunderstorm
- Symphony No. 6 in F major ('Pastoral'), Op. 68: 5. Allegretto. Shepherd's song. Happy and thankful feelings after the storm
- Leonore Overture No. 3 in C major, Op. 72b
- Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92: 1. Poco sostenuto - Vivace
- Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92: 2. Allegretto
- Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92: 3. Presto
- Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92: 4. Allegro con brio
- Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93: 1. Allegro vivace e con brio
- Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93: 2. Allegretto scherzando
- Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93: 3. Tempo di menuetto
- Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93: 4. Allegro vivace
- Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: 1. Allegro ma non tropo, un poco maestoso
- Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: 2. Molto vivace
- Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: 3. Adagio molto e cantabile
- Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral'), Op. 125: 4. Presto - Allegro assai - Andante maestoso - Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato
Music reviews of Beethoven: The Nine Symphonies
Music Review: Over-hyped
Rating: 2 Stars
Having enjoyed the recent boon of wonderful Beethoven from both Jarvi and Vanska - and to a lesser extent van Immerseel and Zinman - I decided to revisit and reassess my Beethoven collection, cycle by cycle, not only to hear how interpretations have changed over the decades but also to hear if my memory was serving me correctly. And, of course, I was pleasantly surprised by how much good Beethoven there is out there - the early Toscanni NBC cycle, the fabulous pair of Cleveland cycles from Szell and Dohnanyi, Bloomstedt's traditional cycle in Dresden, Sawallisch in Amsterdam, the early Karajan cycle, the estimable Wand in Hamburg, Harnoncourt with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the always exciting Bohm, Ferencsik's workman cycle in Hungry, Jarvi with his fabulous Bremen players, Vanska's stunning Minnesota cycle, Zinman's fine Tonhalle efforts, Haitink's recent London cycle, as well as the various period cycles from Hogwood, Bruggen, and van Immerseel. And then I stumbled upon this Solti set with the Chicago Symphony tucked away at the very back of one of my CD drawers. I remembered I was none too impressed with this cycle, but thought I would give it a second lease on life. Thirty seconds into the Pastorale, I realized why I never listened to these performances. They are, simply put, dreadful.
Indeed, so bad are these performances that I hardly thought they were worth reviewing, but upon seeing the endless praise for Solti in this music, I felt I had to offer a balanced perspective and challenge the reviewers who have deemed this cycle "reference."
Of course, there is no "one way" to conduct Beethoven. There is the "German School," recently represented by Barenboim in his Staatskapelle Berlin cycle. Then there are the Szell's and Vanska, big-band Beethoven with crisp rhythms and razor sharp precision. There are also the Period/HIP bunch, exemplified by a fine cycle from Bruggen with his period band and Jarvi and his HIP Bremen chamber orchestra. Wand and Bloomstedt for yet another group, where architecture is emphasized. And, naturally, conductors fall here and there within the spectrum, with some being easily classifiable, such as Abaddo, while others are certainly at the outer limits, like Harnoncourt. But even at his strangest, Harnoncourt still has something interesting and provocative to say in this music. Sadly, I cannot say the same for Solti.
Starting with the Pastorale, Solti just does not know how to effectively shape musical phrases in a way that generates tension. Take the Thunderstorm as a prime example. Solti's conducting is very four-square, with brass interjections that, while powerful, simply hang, stagnant and unmoving. It is uncomfortably blocky, stiff, and unnatural. Certainly, there are those that might find Solti's aggressiveness and roughness appealing, but I challenge these listeners to compare Solti's Thunderstorm to either Bohm or Vanska. Taking the later as a comparison, listen to how both Solti and Vanska have the brass play out, but listen to how Vanksa's trumpets and horns do not simply blurt out their notes; rather, they shape the music, propelling it forward. Or listen to how the great storm climax in Vanska's hands is both powerful, but sounds oddly like .. well, a thunderstorm, where Solti seems to have plateaus of forte followed by plateaus of piano. That same symphony's hymn of thanksgiving in the finale is particularly awful. Solti's interpretation aside (again, pleateaus of forte), listen to how the strings are just grinding away at their tremolo figures while the diffuse and unfocused bass line plods along below in a particularly lifeless manor. Again, listen to how Vanska creates an organ-like sheen, drives the music to a particular point of climax rather than let is sit there at one dynamic, while maintaining textural clarity.
The Eighth is equally repugnant. The minuet is very slow and heavy, which is not a problem at all in my book so long as the conductor highlights Beethoven's humor in this mecurial movement. But Solti seems uninterested in Beethoven's jokes, simply scuffling along with only the end in sight. Compare this to Szell's minuet, taken at a similar tempo. Listen to how Szell really highlights the comedy, with those thrilling trumpets blasting in mocking bombast, timpani pounding, bassoons chuckling. Solti's finale is equally problematic, with only two dynamic levels (loud or soft) and particularly diffuse and distant sounding winds.
The first movement of the Eroica is one of the longest on disc, at just under twenty (20) minutes, but sounds nearly twice as long because Solti fails to elicit the level of clarity that should be achieved at this speed in order to generate tension. Just listen to the first tutti outburst, again where the violins are just grinding away with no sense of balance while the brass leap in and out of the texture. Solti's limp strings and reticent brass sound pathetic next to the power of Karjan's Berlin Philharmonic, but even chamber-sized orchestras, like Harnoncourt's Chamber Orchestra of Europe or Jarvi's Bremen players manage "bigness" where Solti creates none. Even conductors who do keep the brass in check, such as Szell, still manage to generate more tension by increasing the dynamic level (as Beethoven intends) towards to dissonant pile-up and resulting b-major transition into the e-minor theme.
Being Chicago, you expect greatness from the brass. That being said, the finale of the Fifth is just vulgar, plagued by poor ensemble work. The brass plays loudly and, when it stops, there are dynamic drop-offs that rob the music of any tension. But the blame clearly lies at the feet of Solti. Just listen to how shockingly unmoving the huge G-major cadence sounds. The build-up to this usually fool-proof moment shows exactly how inept Solti's podium work actually is. The interchange between the winds and the trumpets, both of which are pounding the "fate" rhythm, are too reticent, covered by absolutely sloppy string playing. Solti chooses the wrong moment to climax, the arrival of the cadence, rather than the ghost of the scherzo, which makes it's reappearance less dramatic than necessary. All in all, Solti fails to realize the intentions of the composer and the potential of this music. In music this ubiquitous, the competition is stiffer than anything else. One need only listen to Kleiber to hear how this music should sound, a reference performance of the Fifth. But there are dozens of better fifths on the market, from the big and creamy Blomstedt to the lithe and fierce Jarvi.
Solti's "one size fits all" approach to the symphonies makes this performance of the Second sound quite odd. This is a big, middle-period approach to a transitional work which altogether fails to capture the humor of the final two movements or the bravura of Beethoven's expanded sonata structure. The largo simply drags, due more to Solti failure to elicit crisp articulation from his players rather than the slow basic tempo. A clearly etched bass line would have helped here, as Vanska achieves in his magnificent Second. I can admire Solti's energy, but it is often misplaced, especially in the finale, where tutti passages lumber, rhythm is limp, and vigor replaces clear ensemble work or orchestral transparency.
Solti's Ninth certainly has its fans, and indeed, there are moments that truly pack a wallop. The sheer impact of the chorus in the finale, the monumentality of Solti's conception, including an awesomely effective "Gott" cadence, milked for all its worth, are all quite appealing. The great fugue is undeniably fierce and embarrassingly effective. But Solti is most persuasive, at the big moments, where his muscularity and his inherent vulgarity go hand in hand. Ironically, when the music actually calls for excess, as in the awkward Turkish March, with its belching contrabassoon and janissary effects, Solti is reserved. Tenor Schunk's contribution, which embraces Beethoven's intentions, becomes all the more awkward vis-?-vis Solti's reticence. Bigness pervades the opening allegro as well, but with portentous weight that is light on excitement. Those seeking a "big" Ninth need only listen to Gunter Wand's fabulous Choral Symphony, which has all the power and energy of Solti, but with better playing, better balance, and a much, much better architectural and emotional conception. As a direct comparison, listen to Solti's opening to the finale to Wand's NDR performance, where the orchestra creates a truly visceral yet balanced sound, unlike Solti's unbalanced mess.
At his best, as in the violently aggressive (but sloppily played) Coriolan Overture or in the finale of the Seventh, I can certainly appreciate Solti's vigor. And indeed, Beethoven's music can stand up to Solti's roughness much better than many of the other composers he recorded in Chicago; his Bruckner, for example, has the subtlety of a shotgun, and his Mahler was very hit-or-miss. That being said, if it sounds like I have lambasted Solti achievement, which in most part I certainly have, it is only because there is so much greatness in this music that listeners should not have to settle for simply good-enough performances. That conductors like Vanska and Jarvi can make this music, music every classical listener knows by heart, sound new and exciting and fresh shows how brilliant the canonic nice really are. Don't settle for performances that are good; you can do better, be it the bigness of Wand, the vigor of Vanska, the freshness of Jarvi, the architecture of Haitink, the zeal of Zinman, the bumptiousness of Blomstedt, the idiosyncraticies of Harnoncourt, or the brio of Toscanni.
Hopefully, as both new recordings and new listeners enter the market, the veneration of Solti will be expunged. Pass.
General CDs
- Styles > Classical
- Featured Composers, A-Z > ( B ) > Beethoven, Ludwig van
- Featured Performers, A-Z > ( S ) > Solti, Sir Georg
- Forms & Genres > Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music > Overtures
- Historical Periods > Classical (c.1770-1830) > General
- Symphonies > General
- Opera & Vocal > Divas > Norman, Jessye
- Beethoven, Ludwig van - Works by Beethoven
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