Beethoven - which Eroica?

[Bryn]

I know we've been here before, but ...

[Bryn]

Chailly dispatches it in 12'11'' which is surely too fast but you get used to it in the context of Chailly's reading of the whole. At the other extreme Furtwangler (1944) is 17'41'' with Klemperer in 1961 clocking in at 16'52''. Monteux (14' 56''), Haitink, LSO (14'26'') and Abbado (14' 49) among many similar strike a happy medium that feels 'right'.

I fought shy of the hype surrounding Chailly's set, until, that is, I saw it at £16.86 including p&p from Paul's CDs. One of the things which deterred me for getting it sooner was Chailly's rejection of the Jonathan Del Mar edition in favour of the Peters. Well, be that as it may, I have found these very convincing readings, so far. Chailly's comment re, the Funeral March tempo is one with which I, and apparently Beethoven in his time, would concur. It "must on no account sound solemn of pompous. The language is operatically dramatic, the content heroic".

[MickyD]

Here is Chailly talking about his approach:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnPIShWxWtU

[Bryn]

Thanks for that, MD. I have snatched all three for latter viewing on a tablet.

[MickyD]

Happy to oblige, Bryn...I had a feeling it would be of interest to you!

[Petrushka]

Here is Chailly talking about his approach:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnPIShWxWtU

Thanks MickyD. I was initially sceptical of Chailly's approach after attending his performance of the 9th at the Barbican but this set has grown on me in a big way and I consider it a great achievement.

[Bryn]

Happy to oblige, Bryn...I had a feeling it would be of interest to you!

His comments are indeed illuminating. I found I could easily extract the aac (audio only) files and have put them on a USB stick. It's currently playing them through the fairly new Onkyo receiver in the room I am currently using for Internet activity.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Next time I listen to Beethoven, I must remember that the priority is to listen with a stopwatch.

[Thropplenoggin]

Next time I listen to Beethoven, I must remember that the priority is to listen with a stopwatch.

[Bryn]

Next time I listen to Beethoven, I must remember that the priority is to listen with a stopwatch.

Well if yo listen to the second movement of the 3rd and anything much less than quaver = 50, you are not listening to Beethoven anyway.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Then I must dump my Furtwangler and Kleiber recordings. They were obviously quite incompetent.

[Bryn]

Then I must dump my Furtwangler and Kleiber recordings. They were obviously quite incompetent.

No, they simply re-arranged the music to suit their tastes. It wasn't Beethoven, but it was sort of based on what he wrote.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Oh dear. Here we go again.

[Thropplenoggin]

Oh dear. Here we go again.

I'm with you, EA. Surely there's room for both visions in the world.

[Bryn]

Oh dear. Here we go again.

Did Beethoven, as Ries asserted, get very irate about slow performances of his work, and thus take advantage of Mälzel's device to give clear guidance, or did he not?