Beethoven listening blog 2020

[jayne lee wilson]

Well why not? Going to copy my WAYLTN comments here as I go (or post on both depending on interest), but there has to be a thread for LvB Listening this year..... comments welcome, or just listings as per, or just ramble on... ....
Lockdown restrictions, no Proms.... those big cycles look very tempting now....(new sonata cycles out from Schiff, Lifschitz etc..Quartets from the Ebène..). Blog not just on New Releases, all are welcome from Grafs to Steinways........

PIANO CONCERTOS GOTTLIEB WALLISCH/OWA/HASELBOCK CPO CDS 2020.

B FLAT NO2

Relaxed and smiling in the outer movements, but never lacking rhythmic precision or liveliness; very direct intepretations - almost without interpetation - but with a sheer tonal beauty, in both orchestra and the lovely 1818 Graf (from the Beethovenhaus, beautifully addressed by Wallisch) placed in a very vividly present resonant acoustic (Casino Baumgarten Wien - which is almost an instrument, a contributing musical personality, in itself here) to make it irresistible to my ears and my heart. The adagio is catch-your-breath gorgeous; those wonderful old wind colours, like an oil-painting with the patina cleansed away, especially telling here.

C MAJOR NO1
All of the aforementioned seductions plus - a really beefy, tuneful drum & bass response in the orchestra - wonderfully well recorded. A small band it may be, but never with any lack of impact in the room. It would be against the direct spirit of these performances to offer any obvious idiosyncrasy of dynamic or phrasal emphasis, but they aren’t inexpressive; everything flows along beautifully, with exquisite filigree of detail. There are moments of true pianistic beauty, as in the mysterious development of 1(i), or the adagio of (ii).
The finale of Op.15 is sometimes whimsical, even danceable… then blazes up into a fiery tutti! (Rhythm and dynamics - the building blocks of sound - always to the fore…)

Subjective as ever, maybe not always indivualised or urgent enough for some, but so much more than enough for me….

C MINOR NO3

Simply magnificent - a striking C Minor power and urgency added to the outstanding qualities of colour, rhythm and dynamics from 1 and 2. Among the telling detail - the fortepiano’s resonance is very clearly & loudly sustained across the last chords of (i) - a very powerful and expressive effect - the expression as ever inherent in the very sound itself.
(Instrument here is an 1825 Graf, greater warmth and richness well suited to the grander scale and impact of No.3).

Sublime adagio (again - all the slow movements in this set are of an extreme tonal and textural beauty). …. finale starts unusually thoughtful and reserved, becomes serious, very weighty and truculent later, then skips to its playful & triumphant conclusion. One of the most fulfilling readings I’ve ever heard, in sound to die for.

G MAJOR NO4

Back in the Eroica Hall at The Lobkowitz, those wide, deep resonances lend this serene work a freshly piercing beauty. Recording puts you right there, in the Hall space, with the performers.
Wallisch spreads the opening chord, has that marriage of tonal beauty, articulacy and poetry one almost takes for granted by now; the phrasing as ever with only the subtlest, barely detectable, rubato.
Orpheus and The Beasts have a perfect balance of release and restraint; the finale surprises you with its unbridled power and speed at the conclusion, the sparkling winds and strings singing out above the sharply defined, texturally layered, hard-hitting bass.

The 1825 Bayer used for Op.58 seems not quite to have the rich bass of the two Grafs; but its still a lovely instrument.

Heaven knows what reviewers will make of it (“anaemic strings” etc, and that resonance - but some of the Symphonies were positively received e.g. No7 by RO); but a landmark set for me.

[jayne lee wilson]

PIANO CONCERTOS. HOUGH/FRSO/LINTU HYPERION CDS 2020


NO2 B FLAT

Not the culture shock I might have expected after OWA/Haselbock, given the FRSO sound more like a large chamber orchestra here (think COE) and Hough’s Bösendorfer has a sparkling tunefulness that would keep any Graf-lover happy.
But of course there are obvious differences too; this recording has endless subtle touches, rubato and dynamic inflexions, a sweetness and warmth in the strings (vibrato sparing but telling), an infinite attention to expressive detailing of the phrase which is always subtle, focusses the attention but keeps the flowing line. Perhaps above all a marvellous sense of dialogue - just listen to Lintu and Hough slowing a little to admire the view in the development of 2(i), then seeming to comment to each other upon it; moving off again swiftly. Really lovely.

I feel Hough slightly overdoes the breath-held stillness at the end of the adagio; lingered a little long. In the finale I missed the Wallisch/Haselbock no-nonsense briskness to some extent (Piano /orchestra contrast more pronounced there; I was craving the sound of their instruments by then.)…
But after some early, lingering rubato, Hough and Lintu gee up the playfulness toward the close, so the approach is thought through.
Does the inflexion get a little much? Perhaps… it may divide responses to some extent…but it is always subtle, and both piano and orchestra are lovely instruments. So I enjoyed pretty much everything they did.

Could have done with “more hall” in the balance, but the tonal character is very attractive nonetheless, string counterpoints transparent. Always draws you in.

Easier one to sum up than Wallisch etc., as you can just say “oh listen to all the expressive details”….which are very engaging indeed. But an A/B is probably misleading here.
Shame you can’t stream the HYP! But c’est la vie…. you have to forget your commitment-phobias here and go back to The Old Way.…should I buy it…?

NO 4 G MAJOR

Hough discreetly spreads the opening chord; Lintu responds by bringing the orchestra in with marvellous delicacy; the strings floating gently toward your perception.
Thereafter the dialoguing between them is bar-by-bar responsive, so considered yet never precluding spontaneity. Lintu can provide the frame for Hough to fantasise, or follow him with exacting sensitivity. At the recap, listen to Hough's magisterial entry with the first theme; Lintu's so-sensitive response; then Hough in turn, bonded to the band in a hushed continuation. The recording is equal to the wide-ranging dynamics and tonal colours.
I was transfixed by the andante: precise and intense in the challenge and placation, a flowing undercurrent;…. every single note counts. Then the finale brings release, freedom, dynamic liberation! But Hough sometimes slows it all down to reflect on what has passed, Lintu smiling upon the moment’s philosophy.

Sometimes one struggles to find the words….. but there’s a tonal quality to the orchestra here, warmth with precision, poised and alert but relaxed, which almost seems a many-voiced, blended analogue of the lovely Bosendorfer itself; there’s a very special musical love-match going on here.
Of course, you need to hear it to really know…. to acknowledge the presence of performative greatness. so there’s no way around this one; you have to hear it, all of it. Twice may not be enough….

NO 3 C MINOR

More stern and serious as the piece demands, a very good performance of the C Minor, but, in the 1st movement, I felt less distinctive than 2 and 4. I returned to Wallisch…. the bracing instrumental textures, the crisp, fresh sound, the brilliance of the fortepiano…. I connected with the piece again.
2nd time around though, I noted the sheer magnificence of Hough’s cadenza to (i) - so powerful and exploratory. Lintu responds likewise in the coda.

But then came the largo….. oh, my word…. Hough and the FRSO winds take us away, far off into an otherworldly dreamland….how the strings sing gently in response. Not far from tears at this point.

Sober, serious, playful or serene, the finale misses no subtlety of mood or texture. And is very weighty just where it should be - we’re on a grander scale here! So finally this reading does add up very well.

NO 1; NO 5.
So the great cycle begins and ends….. its been a privilege to hear it, live with it, over two days or so.
The 5th gets a near-miraculous performance of revitalising subtlety, tenderness and power…with a finale of rare schwung, shimmer and sparkle….…the 1st magnificent in its weight, interpretive patience, and beauty.
You can’t ask much more from a modern-instrument recording than this.
All the performers are stars here, but the piano is a star in itself….the “Bosendorfer Vienna Concert Model” so clear and tuneful….orchestra and piano exquisite tonal mirrors of each other…

***

(In response to RO's Gramophone review on No.1:
If you take RO's critique of the initial 4-note phrase in 1 (i).... the diminuendo isn't "dabbed" on the last note, it flows through the whole phrase; and it isn't played that way throughout the movement, far from it.... so there is a thought-through "method-in-the-madness"...which is a surely (merely!) very subtle freedom in the interpretive approach....putting this on earlier to check this detail, I had to continue through the whole movement: it would have been a self-abnegation of musical hedonism not to....(...and complaining of "unmarked espressivo phrasing" is surely taking reverence into the realms of pedantry).

Again, just to pick out a supposedly unwritten silence in 4 (ii) cause by the piano's "etiolation" (a delicately sustained fade, a moment, and movement, I marvelled at, breath bated, never hearing anything overextended), is to overlook the many beauties in the whole performance, not least that continuously responsive exchange between soloist/orchesta (i.e. conductor)....the very fact that Lintu isn't a "well-schooled kapellmeister" let alone a Klemperer or a Haitink, is a main reason why this cycle is so fresh and revitalising... all the performers are coming to the music with a sense of excitement and discovery......

[silvestrione]

Wow! I've never warmed to Stephen Hough (my loss I'm sure), but perhaps now is the time to try again.

Sonatas 9 and 10, Alfred Brendel's analogue Phillips recordings. Some great playing here. Can anybody, though, rescue the variation movement of the G Major from those early boyish batterings of mine? Well, almost: Brendel is inspired to lead into the semi-quaver variation magically, and then make it prefigure, already, those late C Major 'music of the spheres' moments.

Sonatas 9 and 10, Wilhelm Kempff, DG mono versions. He makes more of the Mozartian chromatics of the second subject in the E Major's first movement. Generally, a little more poetry and light and shade, whereas Brendel has marvellous overall shape and structure

[jayne lee wilson]

"BEETHOVEN RESOUND" HASELBOCK SYMPHONY CYCLE

Beethoven Symphonies 1&2.
Orchester Wiener Akademie/Haselbock. Alpha 24/96 "Resound" Series, Qobuz-S/ALPHA CDS.

I recall Hans Keller describing Karl Bohm's VPO concerts which he attended in Vienna when young (before his dramatic escape from the Anschluss), as having no trace of "intepretation".
Something similar applies here, readings of Beethoven which are - very brisk, articulate and texturally transparent, without any obvious idiosyncrasy of tempi or phrase, let alone any caressing or nurturing. From-the-hip, straight-to-the-point!
But I enjoyed them hugely for their open, explicit period-sonorities, their big punchy wind/brass/drums dynamic impact, and the wonderfully apt acoustic settings, familiar to Beethoven himself - as were the orchestral layouts and instrumental numbers.

Just great music played well, ensemble and acoustic beautifully matched to the music and to each other. For 1&2, that was more than enough (I encored several movements; and I did not, in fact, find the slow movements too cool or uninvolving; far from it).... .... more epic challenges ahead......

Beethoven Symphony No.8.
Orchester Wiener Akademie/Haselbock. Alpha 24/96 "Resound" Series, Qobuz-S.

Utterly wonderful 8th, set in a spacious, very palpable, resonant acoustic (Austrian Academy of Sciences), with power and punch in the outer movements but a deal of dynamic and expressive subtlety too: the scherzando is slightly understated, the minuet flowing and lyrical (lovely horn/clarinet/strings in the trio) the better to contrast it with the framing allegro energies. All so beautifully transparent, nothing rushed or generalised. A compelling flow through the whole structure.

Beethoven Symphony No.3.
Orchester Wiener Akademie/Haselbock. Alpha 24/44.1 "Resound" Series, Qobuz-S.

Slight sense of disappointment here. Another change of acoustic to the Palais Lobkowitz seems to have rounded off the sound a little, softening the impact and perhaps leading the orchestra to play with a degree of restraint; the climaxes still come off well, but the momentum, the cutandthrust in the quicker movements, has been blunted a little. That said, the funeral march is very powerful, gloom laden, with terrific climaxes and a lovely chamber musical delicacy in the strings. But the scherzo and finale seem just a little thrown off; rushed through without the sonic distinctiveness I so admired in 1&2, despite a vivid acoustic signature - the dynamic impact only coming through in the main climaxes. So not terrible, but…..perhaps some compromises from being performed live (with applause)?

Beethoven Symphony No.4.
Orchester Wiener Akademie/Haselbock. Alpha 24/96 2018 "Resound" Series, Qobuz-S.

Back to the Palais Lobkowitz here, but with far better results than for the Eroica. As sharp, fresh, dynamic and detailed as you could possibly wish.
Its a really fiery 4th, with that distinctive sound - the sparkling, exceptionally transparent layer of lean strings and colourful winds, all so precisely placed, with that thrillingly powerful groundswell of earthy brass and drums playing through them and beneath them. Those resonant, spacious, open climaxes responding marvellously to high volumes.
The chamber-musical string sections are picked out sharply, as they weave their delicate figures and traceries in the andante; the solo winds sing sweetly; the fullness and force of the big chords is a compelling contrast.

A huge discovery for me.....Beethoven as I always long to hear it, that resonance only sharpens the instrumental definition, intensifying my appreciation of the musical glories. Bruggen in the Vredenburg is somewhere in the same territory; the only sonically comparable sets would be Cristofori in their Mozart and Beethoven Concertos...but the sound is even better here, the playing often more coherent. Imagine Bruckner done this way (Herreweghe isn't too far off…)

Beethoven Symphony No.7.
Orchester Wiener Akademie/Haselbock. Alpha CD 2016 "Resound" Series.

A truly great 7th from a cycle I’m coming to see as truly great itself (partial exception of the 3rd…..will revisit)…
I’ve enjoyed quite a few - from Mengelberg and Toscanini to Harnoncourt, Wand, Bruggen, and Krivine. This Beethoven Resound Series is inevitably treated by reviews in the usual HIPPs-sidelining special-case way. But - positively, at least some of the time!

Larger orchestra now (22 violins etc). An especial pleasure is the enhanced scherzo/trio contrast, lightness and lift against austere, granitic power, those wonderful old instrumental textures like an open weave sculpture of wood and metal. Haselbock’s forthright direction ensures no rhythmic ambiguities which can mar the 7th’s articulation, and those OAW strings are again a pleasure in themselves in the allegretto. Pity the violins aren’t divided though (as RO noted…)…

[jayne lee wilson]

Symphony No.6 OWA/HASELBOCK Alpha CD 2020

Very beguiling Pastoral, lovely tempo giusto almost throughout (a more measured finale), too many wonders to mention; full of joy and repose, but what a shockingly violent storm! Timps very close to the earth and sonically foundational. God Spoke And The Heavens Opened…

What you have to understand about OWA is their instinctiveness. They’re not about cultivating polish, ultra-discipline or tonal beauty (though their instruments of course have inherent sonic attractions - those gut strings really show their unique strengths in the protominimalist development of (i)).

Sometimes not as tightly disciplined as you’d like, they tend not to stun you with virtuosity a la AAMB, Freiburg Baroque etc.
So, rather like the modern-instrument Vienna orchestras of the 1950s, they have a very distinctive tonal character & way of playing, and just want to get the musical message across simply and directly. Which doesn’t stop their very measured finale here rising to truly moving spiritual heights.

[HighlandDougie]

I'm incapable of Jayne-esque reviews but I've been greatly enjoying the Quatuor Ébène's LvB cycle in episodes, courtesy of Tidal, but, now having the box with physical CDs, I'm enjoying it even more. Great booklet, setting out the background to the project, views from the point of view of their first violinist et al on the music and anecdotes about what they experienced in cities as varied as Nairobi, Tokyo and Philadelphia. The performances have moved me greatly, especially in view of current times. I hate any kind of superlatives but I'd be struggling to think of music which better .... how can one put it? .... feeds the soul.

[AmpH]

I've been enjoying sampling the recently reissued / remastered Hermann Scherchen's early 1950's recordings of LvB's symphonies on Qobuz - I find the dynamism of these recordings particularly attractive.

The box set is on its way.

https://www.europadisc.co.uk/classical/146583/Beethoven_-_Symphonies_1-9,_Overtures.htm

[Bryn]

I've been enjoying sampling the recently reissued / remastered Hermann Scherchen's early 1950's recordings of LvB's symphonies on Qobuz - I find the dynamism of these recordings particularly attractive.

The box set is on its way.

https://www.europadisc.co.uk/classic..._Overtures.htm

I have the Scribendum Scherchen box but will listen to these remastered recordings via QOBUZ. Scherchen always interesting, even when wildly deviating from Beethoven's markings.

[jayne lee wilson]

I've been enjoying sampling the recently reissued / remastered Hermann Scherchen's early 1950's recordings of LvB's symphonies on Qobuz - I find the dynamism of these recordings particularly attractive.

The box set is on its way.

https://www.europadisc.co.uk/classic..._Overtures.htm

A longtime favourite of mine. I have the Tahra complete remastering and several on Pristine and MCA.... they all sound fine in their different ways... Tahra probably ahead on points.
Great that its out again.... the mono 1951 3rd(**) much better than the infamously rocket-fuelled, terribly untidy 1958 VSOO stereo one (OK - I admit its very exciting the first time but after that.....a musical triple-double-vodka high with later regrets....).

The stereo VSOO 6th is fascinating - very quick (34') HIPPs avant-la-lettre in decent sound for 1958.... do seek it out.... without the first movement repeat you're collapsing breathless by the brook after 7'45! But I'm fond of it & not only for those 50s-vintage Vienna strings.........

(**)The Tahra issue of No.3 uses a Vienna Ultraphon recording, not part of the Original Westminster Cycle. In the Tahra set its the only symphony with the VSO rather than the VSOO.... I wonder what DG have done this time....

[AmpH]

A longtime favourite of mine. I have the Tahra complete remastering and several on Pristine and MCA.... they all sound fine in their different ways... Tahra probably ahead on points.
Great that its out again.... the mono 1951 3rd(**) much better than the infamously rocket-fuelled, terribly untidy 1958 VSOO stereo one (OK - I admit its very exciting the first time but after that.....a musical triple-double-vodka high with later regrets....).

The stereo VSOO 6th is fascinating - very quick (34') HIPPs avant-la-lettre in decent sound for 1958.... do seek it out.... without the first movement repeat you're collapsing breathless by the brook after 7'45! But I'm fond of it & not only for those 50s-vintage Vienna strings.........

(**)The Tahra issue of No.3 uses a Vienna Ultraphon recording, not part of the Original Westminster Cycle. In the Tahra set its the only symphony with the VSO rather than the VSOO.... I wonder what DG have done this time....

I generally find Scherchen's recordings interesting and stimulating ( I love his Haydn recordings in a DG box ) so will check out the stereo 6th you mention.

More info on the No 3 included in the DG box here :-

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8782055--beethoven-symphonies-no-3-eroica-no-5

[jayne lee wilson]

Thanks.... that confirms the new release as distinct from the Tahra VSO (1951, different timings etc) issue....
I'll seek out this 3rd on Qobuz...

Gosh, that Scherchen Haydn Collectors' Box....remarkable.... I listened to nothing else for weeks when I first got it... amazing Passione in there...

[Bryn]

I'm incapable of Jayne-esque reviews but I've been greatly enjoying the Quatuor Ébène's LvB cycle in episodes, courtesy of Tidal, but, now having the box with physical CDs, I'm enjoying it even more. Great booklet, setting out the background to the project, views from the point of view of their first violinist et al on the music and anecdotes about what they experienced in cities as varied as Nairobi, Tokyo and Philadelphia. The performances have moved me greatly, especially in view of current times. I hate any kind of superlatives but I'd be struggling to think of music which better .... how can one put it? .... feeds the soul.

From what I have heard so far via QOBUZ, a fine set. However, the claim on the cover that it comprises the complete Beethoven string quartets is spurious. The replacement final movement of Op. 130 is nowhere to be found within this set, let alone the composer's string quartet arrangement of the Op. 14/1 piano sonata or various fragments for string quartet.

[jayne lee wilson]

BEETHOVEN PIANO CONCERTO NO.2. BEZUIDENHOUT/Freiburg Baroque/HERAS-CASADO/HM 24/96 via Qobuz-S.

Far more “interpreted” than Wallisch, with its micromanagement of phrase and dynamics, sudden stresses, rhythmic leaps and bounds, so lively as to be quite startling at times. At first, hard to fault on its own interventionist terms (if at times a bit too emphatic - I have this problem with Bezuidenhout’s FB Mozart too), brilliantly played & recorded, but I missed the serene flow of Haselbock’s orchestra, Wallisch’s pianism and the spacious setting, from the very start. It says something that I enjoyed Bezuidenhout's cadenza in (i) more than the rest of the movement - time to reflect, slow down a bit...

I feel Wallisch is a more natural and subtle pianist too, with a more flowing style, and in the adagio this really tells:
Wallisch/Haselbock achieve a serene, beatific atmosphere that seems not to be on Bezuidenhout/H-C’s agenda really, more concerned as they are to emphasise individualised interpretive points. Closer balance in the latter too, underlining that feeling of engaging virtuosity rather than the OWA’s more “objective” i.e. less personalised musical beauties.

But then the Bezuidenhout finale…. rushed, jumpy, with more sudden sharp accents and mannered phrasing…. for me the continuity was lost, it didn't even work well on its own terms. I think they were aiming at a species of kittenish playfulness, but….a rather annoyed, restless kitten.
You might take it as a live one-off, but on record?

The performers are foregrounded in the one, the music in the other. There is a lovable Viennese essence to the OWA which seems simply to serve the music itself; offering it up to the grateful listener. But I have conceived a great passion for this CPO set over some weeks now, and my own bias should be taken into account.


There’s something enjoyably piquant in how, in the recent Beethoven releases I’ve heard, the least high-profile performers - (Cycle on CPO though you can hear Op.58 and Op.61a on the Alpha Beethoven Resound series via Qobuz etc) are those those who have truly conquered my heart.

[AmpH]

BEETHOVEN String Quartets
Juilliard Quartet 1964 - 1970 Recordings ( Sony )

Newly remastered cycle issued earlier this year, following on from the excellent JQ complete Epic and RCA recordings boxsets.
I do so love the Juilliard Quartet ( especially the earlier line-ups ). Listened to the first 3 no Op 18 quartets so far and the playing is characteristically beautiful and energetic.

Looking forward to hearing how this cycle developed given its time span and especially the almost complete line-up changes - Robert Mann being the only common performer throughout.

https://www.europadisc.co.uk/classical/145743/Beethoven_-_The_String_Quartets_(1964-1970_Recordings).htm

[silvestrione]

Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 4 in G Major Wallisch/Haselbock/Orchester Wiener Akademie

I just had to try one of these, after all the enthusiasm. I loved the piano and the piano playing, and the rapport with the orchestra, and the overall sense of involvement.

But....I didn't warm to the sound of the orchestra nor the orchestral playing per se. It's probably that I don't listen to much HIPP/original instruments orchestras. But it is disconcerting when the after the opening piano solo, the strings don't come in, instead there's a viol consort....no, sorry, that's naughty...but it is one of the great moments in music, and the hushed string sound is probably in my DNA by now. Then I know much is made of how in smaller HIPP orchestra performances there is transparency and you can hear all the wind detail, etc. But not this much, please! The oboe seems to be wailing loudly at times. Give me back the sound weighted towards, but not dominated by, the strings, any day. Mind you, the strings are very effective in the slow movement, where a more aggressive attack is needed.

Of course I am not practising like-with-like comparisons (I don't accept the concept). I have in my ears Karl Bohm conducting the VPO in the wonderful Pollini version, developing forward motion, symphonic propulsion, from the word go, out of the hushed strings. Is it to do with the sense of a grip on the phrases?

But I will go back to listen to Wallisch again, sweetly poetic and freshly imagined, with the runs up and down the keyboard, and the trills, especially memorable.

I've had one listen to Sym 4, but must have another, before I say anything!