Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Jean Yves Gaudin, Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra :: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8

Sloppy playing in the 8th

David A. Beamer | Clawson, MI United States | 02/24/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Beethoven's 7th and 8th symphonies are played by the same orchestra on this recording, but with two different conductors. It's striking to hear how much difference a conductor can make. The performance of the 7th is not terrific, but it is adequate. The balance is not very good -- you hear the first violins and the bass instruments, but the violas and woodwinds often sound muted and muffled. The 2nd movement starts out with a very weak chord in the woodwinds, with nowhere near enough dynamic change (forte-then-decrescendo). And when it changes from A minor to A major, there is no tempo change. (Most everybody else slows down a bit for the major section.) On the plus side, he takes the repeat in the 4th movement (which is relatively rare, but I think adds coherence to the sonata structure). And the scherzo isn't bad.The 8th, however, sounds roughly like a mediocre college orchestra, conducted by a sophomore. Opportunities for rubato (e.g. several times in the 2nd movement) are not taken. Dotted rhythms wind up as triplets. Not much dynamic change -- certainly not enough for late Beethoven.Sure, it's a bargain basement recording, but we've come to expect relatively good performances even at bargain prices (notably on the Naxos label), so this is a disappointment. Do yourself a favor and spend a couple more bucks to get a couple of good performances."