Search - L.V. Beethoven :: Symphony 1-9-Complete

Muddied sound mars dutiful performances

Chris Leggette | 02/17/2001

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Wow!!! -- complete Beethoven for under $20; can't go wrong, right? Well . . . (note my hesitation here) this Beethoven is a strained hearing; the problem? Mediocre performances strapped by less than mediocre production; my advice? Skip it, plunk down the extra five bucks and pick up David Zinman's $20 plus collection; poor Naxos; they mean well here and I am glad so many lesser known orchestras and conductors are given exposure through Naxos distribution; however, nearly every Naxos album I own (including performances of Vaughan-Williams and Sibelius) suffer at the very least from lousy (diminished) sound; and the Beethoven is no exception; the 7th Symphony, 2nd movement, opening bars are nearly lost; the 5th is flat (and occasionally sounds badly timed); and there is nothing truly charged about any performance of any symphony; I mean, c'mon, I may be an amateur listener, but even I know that Beethoven demands a kind of fierceness . . . as well as considerable skill (from conductor and performer); an orchestra must thrill to its Beethoven if we, as listeners, are to be carried off by mucic that is variously stormy, witty, passionate and profound; the Zagreb Philharmonic does not come close; is this the fault of conductor Richaerd Edlinger? I don't know; much can be blamed (as I said) on thoroughly lousy acoustics and production; but, hey, a bargain can only go so far (you get what you pay for?); the discs themselves are sweetly packaged and I won't deny that if top notch performances are unimportant to you -- if what you're looking for is exposure to the big "B" -- then this is a serviceable set; but a winner (to compare with, say, John Gardiner or Bruno Walter or, even, the low-priced David Zinman I mentioned above)? Nope. Not even close."