Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 8 [Hybrid SACD]
Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Philippe Herreweghe
Pentatone, 2007
Philippe Herreweghe could not have approached his Fifth Symphony any more differently. Herreweghe is best know for his period instrument recordings of the Baroque repertorie with his Colligum Vocale. Like Nikolaus Harnoncourt before him, Herreweghe takes his period instrument experience and applies it to the modern orchestra, in this case with dazzeling effect.
Herreweghe takes allegro con brio seriously, clicking of the symphony opening at a fast pace. Sonically this is three dimensional Beethoven the listen can walk around in. Where Vanska's Fifth is a beautiful painting, Herreweghe's is an interactive landscape where tone fly around the listener as he or she is walking through. Herreweghe's approach and attack are fresh and clean with little of the romantic excess usually reserved for this piece in the 20th century. The engineering ensures discreet separation between insturments and instrument groups.
This is Beethoven at a trot. While thoughtfully considered, Herreweghe throws this masterpiece off with a fearlessness that never breaks down. The symphony makes sense. While not a high wire act, Herreweghe's Fifth is nevertheless a bracing experience for the listener, who will hear this piece and wonder when it will fall apart, but it never does and in fact is executed perfectly. The 5.1.1 Surround Sound is stunning. One might expect Herreweghe's Ninth to require a new Holy Day of Obligation.
Article comments
1 - Jordan Richardson
Nice piece. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing it!
2 - bliffle
"The concert consisted entirely of Beethoven premieres directed by the composer himself. The performance took more than four hours"
This magnificent concert presentation was reproduced a couple years ago by someone (I forget who) and I heard it on the radio, probably NPR.
Sometimes Beethoven is so heart-achingly and incomparably beautiful one wonders that anyone could ignore him. It is almost always interesting to hear new presentations of his major works: they are so full of new interpretive potential.