Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, John Eliot Gardiner, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique :: Beethoven: The Revolutionary

Gardiner Fires on all Cylinders

Eric Bergerud | Albany, CA USA | 03/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I wasn't there when Beethoven's 3d or 5th Symphonies were performed so I'll leave it to the experts to argue the fine points. For what it's worth, I am a great fan of "period instruments" which, by definition, makes me a great fan of J.E. Gardiner and his band the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique. I also like Hogwood and the AAM. Hogwood's take on these symphonies is very different. He stresses the connection between Beethoven and Mozart. Hogwood's tempos are brisk but the sound is almost intimate. Gardiner's band clubs you on the head. His Beethoven is an all-out assault on one's musical sensibilities. For me it works. We are, after all, dealing with Beethoven and the 5th and 3d symphonies at that. If this isn't how they actually sounded, they should have. The recording is excellent and, as is often the case, the period instruments provide a wonderful clarity of sound. But this one will rattle the walls if you crank the volume. Highly recommended. But get Hogwood's too if a sweet uncle remembers you in his will. They are a wonderful contrast."

Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark?

dv_forever | Michigan, USA | 02/25/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Read David Hurwitz's liner notes to this Beethoven release. Hurwitz has to go out of his way to make classical music sound all approachable, so in his typically "genius" critic mode, he compares Beethoven's 5th Symphony to George Lucas' Star Wars and Beethoven's Eroica Symphony to the Spielberg/Lucas blockbuster Raiders of the Lost Ark. I don't know why critics have to draw such lowbrow analogies across artistic mediums. I suppose to not scare off the average non-classical fan or something. It's all really ridiculous. By the way, I just saw Raiders of the Lost Ark again for the first time in several years. I must say this film is just as dopey and cartoonish as it ever was. But it's meant to be harmless fun, so why not, right? But where in David Hurwitz's brain does a harmless, fun summer popcorn movie run in parallel to an immortal musical masterwork like the Eroica Symphony? Looks like Hurwitz is puffing smoke out of his bootay again!



Moving on, the performances here under John Eliot Gardiner are as superficial as you could want, which probably means that yes, equating these recordings with Hollywood entertainment is not too far-fetched. Why do I give this CD four stars then? Out of all the period-instrument recordings of the Beethoven symphonies, Gardiner is by far and away the most interesting and gutsy conductor who has a very good orchestra under his command. There is no way I would ever listen to Gardiner conduct Beethoven in the concert hall. Last year I saw him live with his rendition of Mozart's C Minor Mass and the Requiem. The tiny, wimpy orchestra, the undersized choir was all too much and I was bored out of my mind. It was a disgrace to Mozart, but not from the lack of balance or thought, rather it was lacking in everything else. Emotion, warmth, power, sympathy? Forget it!



That's exactly how this recording of Beethoven's 3rd and 5th sounds. In the concert hall, this would be deadly, but on a home stereo, crank it up loud and have fun! The energy of this 5th is truly something, whatever it lacks in weight, it substitutes in wave after wave of attack. The finale under Gardiner is especially driven, with the climaxes brazen and full of flair. You'll enjoy this performance all the way through, with the quick as lighting first movement. The only part I didn't like was the extra repeat of the scherzo prescribed in the newer edition of the score. Since Gardiner takes the scherzo so breathlessly, you don't mind hearing it twice. The finale, like I said, is frantic fun all the way to the finish. This is a reading to enjoy as a change of pace but you'll want to come back to the famous Kleiber and Karajan versions which are far more insightful in the end.



The Eroica is a very different matter altogether, whereas Gardiner's view of the 5th has it's advantages, his interpretation of the Eroica lacks the titanic, heroic, world conquering breadth of vision that this music contains. Fast speeds are one thing, but lack of any discernable emotional depth in music of such vast reach and pathos is a major crime. If you desire a period-instrument Eroica, this is probably the one to have as it is miles removed from the pathetic Roger Norrington and his London Classical Players for instance. However, if you really care about this music, Gardiner's version simply will not satisfy as anything more than an alternate hearing. Stick to Toscanini, Furtwangler 1944, Karajan's versions on DG, especially the digital Karajan Gold, plus Szell and Bernstein on Sony. All those are far more involving and penetrating. Those conductors actually seem to care about this great symphony. Gardiner loves speed and nothing much else. Regardless, four out of five stars because this is as good as period-instrument performances ever got."

Stirring

Martin S. Hennessee | Knoxville, TN | 03/02/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A very dynamic recording of the two famous pieces, performed on period instruments. The liner notes go a bit overboard in the "revolutionary" rhetoric, but never mind all that - this is a great disc with fresh, inspiring readings of two warhorses of the classical repetoire."