Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, René Leibowitz, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra :: Symphonies No. 1 & 3

One of the finest Eroicas

Patrick A Daley | Fredericton, New Brunswick | 08/22/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"René Leibowitz was certainly a fine conductor, and one wonders why he is not better known. This is as good a performance of the Eroica Symphony as I have heard. From two beginning chords of the first movement, the tempos are are fairly fast, though well-judged, and the music is accented, as it should be. This makes the playing less smooth, but more interesting. The orchestra plays the second movement funeral march, with its magnificent fugal passage, with the best. There is nothing quite like the second movement of the Eroica in all of music. The scherzo is played is quite exciting . The final movmenrt, Allegro molto, is also played with great spirit, and comes to a rousing finish. The best thing that can be said for this performance is that one never thinks of what the conductor is doing, but just listens to the music.Beethoven's first symphony has proved something of a puzzle to commentators, who cannot agree with it is an 18th century classic symphony, in the manner of the late Haydn, or a Romantic symphony, looking forward to Beethoven's later symphonies. I would say Leibowitz's interpretation opts for the latter, and makes a very good case for it. The first movement sounds strong and dramatic, putting it in the Romantic period. The slow second movement sounds more classical, but certainly doesn't feel classic. One wonders why the third movement is called a menuetto, because it is not dance music by any stretch of the imagination. The final movement is more Haydnesque, especially in its good humour. This is a great compliment, for the later Haydn was a formidable symphonist. It is, however, more dramtically structured. Beethoven's first symphony is really a splendid work, especially Leibowitz's hands.The quality of the 1961 recordings is quite good. though slightly more forward than the best of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra reissues. However, with a slight treble cut, it is very good, cerainly better than Carlos Kleiber's much later recordings of Beethoven's 5th and 7th on DG. The stereo image is very good, as one could expect with Kenneth G. Wilkinson as recording engineer."