Gwyneth Jones, René Kollo - Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies
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Artist: Gwyneth Jones, René KolloBrand: BEETHOVEN,L.V.
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Format: Box set, Collector's Edition
CD Release Date: 2004-05-11
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
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. 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
- Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36: 1. Adagio - Allegro con brio
- Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36: 2. Larghetto
- Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36: 3. Schrezo. Allegro
- Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36: 4. Allegro molto
- 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. 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. 6 in F major ('Pastoral'), Op. 68: 1. Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande. Allegro ma non tropp
- Symphony No. 6 in F major ('Pastoral'), Op. 68: 2. Szene am Bach. Andante molto moto
- Symphony No. 6 in F major ('Pastoral'), Op. 68: 3. Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute. Allegro
- Symphony No. 6 in F major ('Pastoral'), Op. 68: 4. Gewitter - Sturm. Allegro
- 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 troppo, 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
Music reviews of Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies
Music Review: Okay, but curiously detached for Lenny
Rating: 3 Stars
For all of Lenny's reputation for fire and passion, this is as "standard issue" as Beethoven symphony cycles get. Bernstein clearly had no new insight to bring to the table for these DG recordings--the second cycle in his career--and they fall flat.
Throughout, tempi are middle of the road (except in the Allegretto of the 7th, which Bernstein conducts, as usual, like a highly romantic adagio), accents are smoothed over, and dynamics are minimized (though this may be the result of DG engineers trying to make sure audience noise didn't get through; it seems as though they were experimenting around this time with creating studio-caliber recordings in live concerts; often the sound here, especially in the strings, is muffled). Nothing makes me sit up and pay attention. And yes, the first movement of the Fifth here is abysmal and inappropriately Romantic. What was Bernstein thinking???
The best performances overall here are the Eroica and the 4th. The 3rd has some sense of fire and revolution brewing, a rough-hewn quality (compared to the rest of the set, that is). But even this pales compared to some of the *really* great recordings of the work: Cluytens, Furtwangler, Jochum, Weingartner, Karajan, Scherchen, Klemperer, Erich Kleiber, even Giulini and Haitink and Abbado. I might go easier on it if it were David Zinman, but this is LEONARD BERNSTEIN we are talking about.
The 4th, too, is very spirited, with a gorgeously tender Adagio (one of my favorite movements in all of Beethoven; who says the guy was always larger-than-life?), one bouncing scherzo and a terrific spirited Rondo, though Bernstein completely misses the humor of the coda. There seems to be a shortage of really fine Beethoven 4ths, however, so it's nice to have this one available.
The rest of the symphonies are rather ordinary; I don't feel like Bernstein has dug deeply into the music here. Much of the time, despite the stamping and grunting Lenny does on the podium (you can hear it on the recordings), the VPO sounds on autopilot. I miss the *long line,* the preparation for what's coming bars in advance, the appreciation of the large-scale architecture of each movement. *Those* are the things that tell me this conductor has really thought about Beethoven and has conveyed those thoughts to the orchestra. The only thing Bernstein regularly does to stamp his mark is to end almost every movement with an agogic accent, a big "ta-taaaaa," drawing--out--the--last--bar--of--music--to--let--us--know--of--the--big--finish. It reminds me of that scene in the film Amadeus where Salieri tells Mozart "You didn't even give them a big bang at the end to let the audience know when to clap?" After three or four symphonies, it gets really annoying.
Also odd, something no one else seems to have noticed, is there are a few moments here and there where the recording lurches, as though a split second of music were missing. This may be due to some imprecise tape splicing, and it only happens a few times (most notably in the 9th), but it's jarring and annoying.
The soloists in the 9th sound bored, though technically fine enough, except for a soprano who keeps singing loud and sharp and a chorus that sounds muted. in the instrumental section preceding the singer's entry, Lenny does not contrast the stormy recitative with the following "joy" theme enough, so that the joy theme feels a release from the storm and agitation of the proceedings. Nor is there much JOY in the joy theme, nor energy. Maybe because the 9th is programmed so often, and is always intended to be *important,* orchestras have a tendency in this day and age to sound bored playing it, and this is one of those performances. The whole first part of the finale suffers from a certain flatness of emotion--no peaks or valleys--though to his credit Bernstein does some nice things in the second part. Before that, though, we have to suffer through the entry of the tenor to barely audible triangle and bass drum, underplaying some of the very revolutionary aspects of this music, not to mention the jaunty feel of fraternity and egalitarianism in this passage. And listen to the return of the Joy theme with the chorus after the famous instrumental fugue--it just sounds so routine. You want to hear excitement in a 9th, try Krips, Weingartner, Walter, Karajan '62.
Just to make sure I wasn't in a bad mood when listening to this 9th, I immediately put on Felix Weingartner's 1935 recording. Yes, you have to deal with some not-great sound (though it's actually remarkable for its age), and the timpanist has to restrain himself in parts because his thunderous sounds would be distorted on the primitive sound equipment, but what a performance! There is line, there is a sense that Weingartner understands the structure of the work inside out, making sense of each heave and ho, to build to a shattering finale that will knock your socks off. This miracle of a recording makes it sound as though Weingartner and his men are discovering this music for the first time, and can hardly contain their enthusiasm.
That same intense enthusiasm is what I look for in Bernstein, but don't find it here. The conductor was still capable of creating it--listen to some of his Mozart and Haydn on DG, or his white-hot Mahler 9th with the Berlin Philharmonic recorded around the same time as these Beethoven performances. Or his performance during this same concert tour of the Beethoven Op. 131 string quartet transcribed for the Vienna Philharmonic strings. Those are great Bernstein recordings.
(Postscript: For a great complete set of Beethoven symphonies, plus most of the overtures and a complete Creatures of Promethius *and* a Mozart Jupiter Symphony, I highly recommend George Szell's set in the Sony "Original Jackets" box. A bit pricier, the performances are far better overall, and a few are outright stunning. And if you're reluctant to go with Szell because the sound is often thin and wiry, know that the remasterings for this "Original Jackets"series are excellent, and bring out the Clevelanders like you've never heard them before.)
Description of Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies
No Description AvailableNo Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: BEETHOVEN,L.V.
Title: SYM 9
Street Release Date: 05/11/2004
Genre: CLASSICAL COMPOSERS
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