Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Osmo Vänskä, Minnesota Orchestra :: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6 [Hybrid SACD]

Very Good Indeed

Virginia Opera Fan | Falls Church, VA USA | 01/30/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've been collecting Vanska's Beethoven cycle as it has been released by BIS. The past installments have impressed me as interesting, but not adding anything essential to the discography. With this release, I think I may have to re-evaluate the earlier installments. Frankly, this is some of the most interesting Beethoven I've heard in a long time.



I enjoyed the first movement of Symphony No. 1 and was enchanted by the second. The interpretation is both courtly and cheeky at once. Listen, for example, to the commentary of the horns as the string motives trip along. Those qualities carry over to the scherzo and finale.



The Pastoral maintains the high standards of the First. The first movement is cheerful, as it should be, with wonderful woodwind detail. The cello lines are nicely prominent, too. The Scene by the Brook moves along nicely without sounding perfunctory - a good thing in a movement that (for me at least) can sometimes overstay its welcome. The third movement peasants make merry with some punchy accents and a very bumptious quality to the dances. The storm makes a nice racket (great tympani whacks) and the finale is simply and beautifully played.



For what is worth, Vanska uses the recent Norman del Mar urtext editions - which probably doesn't make much difference unless you're listening with the scores. He also brings out a wealth of inner detail without allowing a mass of finicky detail to overwhelm the structure. I've also been collecting Haitink's London Symphony cycle (also on SACD) and definitely prefer Vanska's cycle both in interpretation and sound. BIS has given us a very lifelike representation of Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis. String tone, so often the downfall of digital recording, is very fine.

I've never cared much for Karajan's cycle from the 1960s (which I own in redbook CD, not the refurbished SACDs). I find it over-refined and calculated. Vanska is emerging as my pick for SACD. With works as extensively recorded as these symphonies, the listener is faced with a bewildering array of choices. I suspect I'll be listening to and learning from these recordings for a long time to come."

Reference Sixth

Prescott Cunningham Moore | 08/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Despite all the negative criticism that surrounds many recordings today, the vast majority of the performances that make up the classical musical industry are quite good. Indeed, both performance practices and the level of musicianship are generally quite high. So, in order to stand out in this glutted bog of musical competency, typically the performance must rise above this benchmark and offer listeners something more, be it ensemble precision, wide dynamic range, idiomatic and characterful playing, and the always important (but often conspicuously absent) sense of zeal.



On the interpretive side, most conductors are competent enough to turn in decent performances. Most bring ideas to the table, some good, more bad, that justify the need to document their interpretations as part of the performance legacy. The best conductors, however, know how to successfully marry their idiomatic interpretation with the composer's vision, creating performances that sound fresh, alive and, most importantly, interpretively "correct."



There are fewer performances where both orchestra and conductor achieve such a balance, creating performances that are timeless. Rarer still is it possible to find such performances of basic repertoire mainstays, but conductors and orchestras alike are still capable of saying something new.



Bu then there are those rarest of occasions; occasions in the truest sense of the word, where a performance leaves the listener breathless, completely disarming criticism of any kind. It is with full knowledge and respect for the great tradition of the Sixth, from Bohm to Wand, Toscanni, Szell, Bloomstedt, Karajan, Abbado, Barenboim, Zinman, Hogwood, Bruggen, Gardiner, Immerseel, Dausgaard, and Davis that I humbly state this is the finest "Pastorale" on record.



The Sixth, more so than any other Beethoven Symphony, requires a conductor both fully aware and fully committed to Beethoven's vision. Tempo is the first pitfall for conductors who either do not trust or cannot execute that vision. The outer movements require tempos that are not quite allegros but are not allegrettos. The movements must flow smoothly but cannot snag. The second pitfall is architecture. The second and final movements require a conductor who can build tension steadily while remaining dynamically and orchestrally bound by Beethoven's writing. Finally, balance is key. The fragility of the orchestration can (and often does) lead conductors to either underplay the music, thus causing tension to fall flat or overcompensating by adding unnecessary weight, burdening and overpowering Beethoven's intentions. Indeed, if any one of these factors is out of balance, the symphony becomes a drearily ponderous and uneventful affair. Conductors are keenly aware of this possibility. But few have put their trust where it most belongs, in Beethoven's hands, more so than Vanska.



Right from the beginning of the first movement, the listener knows something special is about to happen. Vanska's tempo perfectly captures cheerfulness; it is not the overexcited brio of some conductors upon their arrival in the country nor the bucolic stupor of non-excitement of others. Vanska also achieves a true "awakening" at the first tutti outburst of the main theme, the joy projected by the full-bodied but perfectly balanced sound, birdcalls clearly audible on top. Vanska further shows how to build tension by paying careful attention to Beethoven's orchestration. Just listen to the miraculous handing of the terraced second subject, which never sounds repetetive or dull in Vanska's hand. Architecturally, just listen to how Vanska steadily builds tension in the development by calculated swells in the stereophonically placed violins, adding drama to an otherwise repeative development.



The thunderstorm is another example of how Vanska's vision can be both musically satisfying but also emotionally fulfilling. The storm is terrifying, but never vulgar, loud but clearly articulated and fully balanced, Vanska's large swells sounding truly thunderous. The end of the storm is one of the finest on disc, fully capturing the humor of the storm (you can almost see the drunken villagers as surprised by the sudden going of the storm as they were by its appearance).



Vanska's attention to detail, phrasing, and architecture create one of the finest hymns of thanksgiving, full bodied, glowing in the bright light of the summer sun, and full of both a religious and terrestrial humbleness for nature. The final hymn is magnificent, the strings supported by a golden hued brass, all on the foundation of rich lower strings.



Indeed, the playing of the Minnesota Orchestra cannot be more highly praised. Nowhere is the quality of musicianship more evident than in the scene by the brook, where the evocative birdcalls are cushioned by the most realistic sounding brook on disc. In the rustic dance trio, the orchestra is not afraid to make a rough and ruckus sound, while the "drunken stumble" is both humorous and musically satisfying.



The Sixth alone is worth the price of this amazing release, but Vanska's first symphony is quite attractive as well. Vanska's approach is more "late classical" than early Beethoven, so the violence of contrasts of Paavo Jarvi's stellar Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen performance or the extra brio of Gunter Wand's NDR performance are conspicuously absent. However, Vanska's attention to detail, accents, and architecture make this performance noteworthy. The details in the slow introduction alone could fill the entirety of this review, while the humor and energy of the finale brings the performance to a thrilling conclusion.



It is amazing that even today, intelligent and idiomatic performances of the basic repertoire can be found. But performances as fantastic as these are surely timeless and are a welcome reference for future generations. Cannot be more highly recommended."