Beethoven 'Pastoral' LPO/Tennstedt

[Petrushka]

Let me start straightaway and declare that this quite magnificent live 1992 account of the Beethoven 6th Symphony is now my absolute top choice in this work. Tennstedt finds qualities in the Pastoral that elude many another big podium name, a wide-eyed wonder at the marvel of nature and creation and, at the end, radiating a profound sense of joy.

Tennstedt's outstanding interpretation is aided by wonderful carolling winds and string playing to rival the best that Vienna or Berlin could provide, while the roar of the timpani will have you cowering beneath the storm. And then the shepherd's hymn of thanksgiving steals in, at first with a quiet sense of wonder before gathering strength in a song of full-throated splendour.

This is the Beethoven Pastoral for me. Quite why it's taken 23 years to be opened to the gaze of the CD buying public is a pity that the time lost in getting to know it will never be regained.

Recommended with all possible enthusiasm.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beethoven-Overture-Tennstedt-Philharmonic-Orchestra/dp/B00UU0BQW6/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1434489378&sr=1-1&keywords=beethoven+tennstedt

[Nick Armstrong]

Interesting, Pet. I shall endeavour to discover the answer to the question in your third paragraph.

[Petrushka]

Interesting, Pet. I shall endeavour to discover the answer to the question in your third paragraph.

This is something very special, Cali. I wonder what Pastoralguy thinks?

[teamsaint]

wonderful enthusiastic review from Pet.

This is available on spotty for "try before you buy".

[Keraulophone]

Thank you, Petrushka.

KT's earlier EMI recording is already wonderful, but you have persuaded me to order this live one that may evoke even more Elysian fields.

[HighlandDougie]

Thanks seconded! Duly ordered - Pet's heartfelt enthusiasm would have been enough but Richard Osborne is equally enthusiastic in the latest Gramophone (although he doesn't much like the Egmont overture). My one 'live' experience of KT and the LPO included the Pastoral so I'm much looking forward to receiving the disc.

[Cockney Sparrow]

This is available on spotty for "try before you buy".

And Naxos Music Library (check your library to see if they subscribe)

[johnb]

After reading such a glowing review I've also ordered the disc.

(I find the way Amazon tries to force buyers into subscribing to Amazon Prime intensely irritating. You get to a screen where it prompts you to choose Amazon Prime and there are seemingly two options "Try Amazon Prime" and a greyed out "Continue with FREE One-Day Delivery Pay Later" - actually the two are exactly the same and the real alternative is the easy to miss text "No Thanks. I do not want Free One-Day Delivery. " along side.)

[pastoralguy]

This is something very special, Cali. I wonder what Pastoralguy thinks?

Many thanks for your request of my (humble!) opinion, Petrushka. I've been a bit quiet here recently after a really nasty dose of glandular fever which has knocked me flat.

I agree that this is a lovely interpretation and I received the cd on its release day. (Unsurprisingly!) It doesn't quite displace my fondness for Tennstedt's 1986 cd on EMI coupled with a superb 8th symphony but probably because I know it much MUCH better. (OMG, I've been listening to it for almost 30 years!) but it is a lovely supplement.

On my system, I do find the recording favours the flute just a tad but the interplay between the winds is a real joy and, yes, I have heard things in this recording that I've not noticed before. When one considers that this is a work I've been listening now for over forty years that's really saying something! Bearing in mind that the whole package is so inexpensive then I can only envy any teenager who buys this disc since it is cheap. My 'cheap' intro was the Berlin Phil. under Cluytens on CfP. (My father had a tape of a radio recording whose provenance will forever be a mystery).

I should add, since I've brought my late father into this waffle, that he was a merchant seaman who often travelled to Japan and so the PG household often had technology that was almost 'space age'. One such item was the brand new musiccassette which my father brought home circa. 1970. He had three tapes. James Last on Polydor, Nana Mouskouri and Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic in the 'Pastoral' symphony coupled, bizarrely, with the first symphony which received no credit on the insert. The turn point in the tape was half way through the last movement where a fade out preceded the end of side one before a fade in took you back to the start of the movement!


I was delighted to see someone had started a thread for this recording - Bravo, sir.

For the record, I enjoyed the Egmont overture, one of my favourite Beethoven works.

[cloughie]

Many thanks for your request of my (humble!) opinion, Petrushka. I've been a bit quiet here recently after a really nasty dose of glandular fever which has knocked me flat.

I agree that this is a lovely interpretation and I received the cd on its release day. (Unsurprisingly!) It doesn't quite displace my fondness for Tennstedt's 1986 cd on EMI coupled with a superb 8th symphony but probably because I know it much MUCH better. (OMG, I've been listening to it for almost 30 years!) but it is a lovely supplement.

On my system, I do find the recording favours the flute just a tad but the interplay between the winds is a real joy and, yes, I have heard things in this recording that I've not noticed before. When one considers that this is a work I've been listening now for over forty years that's really saying something! Bearing in mind that the whole package is so inexpensive then I can only envy any teenager who buys this disc since it is cheap. My 'cheap' intro was the Berlin Phil. under Cluytens on CfP. (My father had a tape of a radio recording whose provenance will forever be a mystery).

I should add, since I've brought my late father into this waffle, that he was a merchant seaman who often travelled to Japan and so the PG household often had technology that was almost 'space age'. One such item was the brand new musiccassette which my father brought home circa. 1970. He had three tapes. James Last on Polydor, Nana Mouskouri and Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic in the 'Pastoral' symphony coupled, bizarrely, with the first symphony which received no credit on the insert. The turn point in the tape was half way through the last movement where a fade out preceded the end of side one before a fade in took you back to the start of the movement!


I was delighted to see someone had started a thread for this recording - Bravo, sir.

For the record, I enjoyed the Egmont overture, one of my favourite Beethoven works.

Following the enthusiastic comments on this recording I considered pushing the Amazon button but the I thought hang on I have the EMI 1986 (In fact duplicated as I have the coupling with Lucia Popp doing the 4 Last Songs, in addition to the big Tennstedt box) and several other Pastorals - Yes I would welcome it to my shelves but for now maybe it is not a must have buy.

[richardfinegold]

Let me start straightaway and declare that this quite magnificent live 1992 account of the Beethoven 6th Symphony is now my absolute top choice in this work. Tennstedt finds qualities in the Pastoral that elude many another big podium name, a wide-eyed wonder at the marvel of nature and creation and, at the end, radiating a profound sense of joy.

Tennstedt's outstanding interpretation is aided by wonderful carolling winds and string playing to rival the best that Vienna or Berlin could provide, while the roar of the timpani will have you cowering beneath the storm. And then the shepherd's hymn of thanksgiving steals in, at first with a quiet sense of wonder before gathering strength in a song of full-throated splendour.

This is the Beethoven Pastoral for me. Quite why it's taken 23 years to be opened to the gaze of the CD buying public is a pity that the time lost in getting to know it will never be regained.

Recommended with all possible enthusiasm.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beethoven-Ov...oven+tennstedt

Amazon here lists a 1990 and a 1992 LPO recording of the 6th. I am presuming the latter is the one that you referenced. It doesn't appear new at all, being available in a couple of different repackagings. Or is there a 3rd Performance, dating also from 1992, that has just been released?
I listened to the 1992 version mentioned above on Spotify during my morning walk. It has been raining and flooding here and I was hoping to time the walk between cloudbursts. I thought I had it safe but about 5 blocks from home a sudden downpour drenched me and made a mockery of my flimsy umbrella. Fittingly, this coincided with the beginning of the storm sequence in the music.
Spotify only carries the first three movements--after the storm begins to fade, one is suddenly presented with the unwelcome opening of the Egmont Overture.
So I can only critque the first 3/5 of the recording. It appears to be well played, well recorded, with sensible tempos. It no doubt was a joy to hear in the concert hall.
Arkiv Music currently lists 285 versions of Pastoral as available. Pretty daunting competition and no one could possibly be familiar with all of them. My favorites are oldies from the dawn of the Stereo era--Bruno Walter with the 'Columbia Symphony' and Pierre Monteux with the LSO. From the HIPP perspective I prefer Hogwood. More recent 6ths that I have enjoyed are Vanska, Abbado/Berlin, and the severely underrated Herreweghe.
Back to the 3/5 Tennstedt that listened to this morning, I would rate it highly, with a few caveats. Perhaps there was a drought in London in 1992 because the babbling brook doesn't sound very deep, and the pubs must have closed early that year, because the merrymaking peasants don't sound very tipsy. The storm sequence has a nice sense of foreboding, but it sounds to me like a General massing his troops for an assault, rather than a sudden eruption that seems to come out of nowhere and drench those unfortunate outsiders. The versions I referenced above seem to go beyond the bar lines and have the storm just suddenly be there, but the deliberate pacing on the present recording is a valid alternative.
Perhaps the last two movements are extraordinary and raise this recording to a very high plane. Based on the three that I heard--and assuming that I listened to the same recording in the OP, which I am not all sure of-- I would rate it as a very competitive recording in a ridculously crowded field of contestants .

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The recording Pet refers to was recorded on 21st February, 1992, if that's any help, rfg.

I'd be grateful if anyone would tell me if Tennstedt observes the First Movement Exposition repeat.

[pastoralguy]

[QUOTE=richardfinegold;492576
Arkiv Music currently lists 285 versions of Pastoral as available. Pretty daunting competition and no one could possibly be familiar with all of them .[/QUOTE]




The 1990 and 1992 versions were re-issues of the 1986 EMI disc (CDC 7 47459 2). IIRC, the 1990 was a compilation with Lucia Popp singing the 'Four Last Songs' and an overture. The 1992 re-issue was a bargain disc which I have although direct comparison with the original 1986 disc finds a very low level transfer which has to be turned way up to make an impact.

[pastoralguy]

The recording Pet refers to was recorded on 21st February, 1992, if that's any help, rfg.

I'd be grateful if anyone would tell me if Tennstedt observes the First Movement Exposition repeat.

I'm listening to it now and he does. In fact, most conductors in the modern age do.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I'm listening to it now and he does. In fact, most conductors in the modern age do.

Does a twenty-three-year-old recording count as being "in the modern age" meponders?