Beethoven's 4th Symphony

[Bogey]

I have recently found I am enjoying/appreciating LvB's 4th at a level that I never anticipated.  Though I have a handful of 4th's within cycles, I do not recall ever purchasing a 4th with it being the primary focus of the purchase.  In short, I have neglected this piece far too long when compared to his other eight symphonies and wondered what are some of your favorite recordings of what Schumann called:"a slender Greek maiden between two Norse gods".

[Bonehelm]

Ozawa/BSO.

Accept no substitute.

[FideLeo]

Hogwood/ the Academy of Ancient Music

A perfect alternative.

[BorisG]

[George]

I agree with Boris

AND

I will add Szell to the list.

In fact, I now think that ahead of even HvK's '63 cycle, Szell's set of the symphonies should be on everyone's shelf.

(However, be aware that I'm shooting from the HIP here) 

[Peregrine]

I share George's sentiments over the Szell set, but have always found the fourth from HvK '63 a real standout for me. Just ordered the Wand /Beethoven set (thanks for the heads up Anthony Athletic!), so will be interested to hear the fourth on that. Walter excellent, that disc with 4 and 6 is gorgeous.

[RebLem]

My two favorites are Klemperer and Monteux.

Klemperer emphasizes the rhythm and structure, and the first movement transition is hair-raising.  Monteux's is a gentler, more lyrical interpretation, but both are great ones.

[Renfield]

[...] and wondered what are some of your favorite recordings of what Schumann called:"a slender Greek maiden between two Norse gods".

Noooo-t that quote!

In any case, Beethoven's stunning 4th! I'd say the Karajan/BPO (1963 - DG), and the very recent Vänskä/Minnesota (BIS) are a pair of excellent ones that spring to mind.

But I admit that, like with Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler, I have a (large) number of Beethoven cycles going around; so I'll check and see which other exceptional 4ths I can remember I have (possibly a Toscanini one, but my mind is slightly foggy at the moment), and get back to you.

[val]

The 4th is, to me, one of the two or three greatest symphonies composed by Beethoven.

Bruno Walter with Columbia gave the version that I consider "nec plus ultra". The phrasing, the color (it all seems deep blue), even a certain tenderness.

For those who want a more structural approach, then Carlos Kleiber with the Bavarian State Orchestra is the best.

Also very good: Toscanini with the BBC (not the NBC), Karajan with the BPO (1962), Mravinsky with Leningrad. Not Furtwängler, I can't stand his heavy and tragic style in this work.

[Montpellier]

My favourite is the Klemperer.  His tempi aren't particularly slow with this symphony (compared with the 5th that he almost brings to a standstill several times).   Schumann got it wrong - It's far from a slender greek maiden.  I've found it very forward looking and far less conservative than the 3rd and 5th.  It doesn't even resolve into the definitive key of Bb major until about bar 50!   (I may have to edit that, I'll look at the score!)   What other symphony of those times dared do that sort of thing?   

It resolves in Bb maj in bar 43.

.

[Mark]

Hmmm ... Beethoven's Fourth Symphony. A favourite of mine since I first heard it. That opening, so quiet and mysterious. And such joy throughout the work as a whole. Marvellous. But to buy a recording specifically of this symphony? No. Or more correctly, no need.

This is one work which I genuinely believe no interpreter can screw up. It's 'interpreter-proof', if you will. I've heard perhaps a dozen or more versions, and I can honestly say that each and every one has been a delight to listen to. It's for this reason that I say there's no need (for me, at least) to go hunting down a particular recording of this work.

So, this said, if I were forced to choose three 'favourite' recordings, they'd be these:

Sanderling | Philharmonia Orchestra (1981) - Not too quick, not too slow; errs on the side of a 'traditional' performance.

Mackerras | RLPO (1993) - Brisk and bright, like a spring morning; real contrast to the Sanderling.

Abbado | VPO (1988) - Has a broad feel to it, with tempi similar to the Sanderling; the strings have a greater weight and lustre.

[Holden]

 

This CD gives you two of Walter's greatest performances and also two of the best of those LvB Symphonies. This is a true desert island disc.

The only 4th I'd add to the list would be the Monteux/LSO

[hornteacher]

Mackerras | RLPO (1993) - Brisk and bright, like a spring morning; real contrast to the Sanderling.

My favorite version.  In fact the entire cycle is incredible.

[Larry Rinkel]

I'm afraid this has never been one of my favorite Beethoven symphonies, mainly because the last two movements especially seem on a lower imaginative level than the first two. But there are some extraordinary things in those first two movements, perhaps above all in the first movement the slow introduction, and the return of the main theme of the Allegro over a sustained timpani roll already on the tonic Bb. For me the slow movement is the best thing in the symphony, and Toscanini (NBC, not just BBC) gets it just right, though his handling of the first movement is on the rough side. The tempo for the finale is a puzzlement: if you play it at Beethoven's metronome mark of 80 to the half note, it's at a breakneck speed, but the marking is Allegro ma non troppo.

[BachQ]

Pletnev

[not edward]

This has long been one of my favourite Beethoven symphonies, though I do agree with Larry that the latter two movements operate at a lower level of inspiration than the first two.

I've never really connected with the Walter recording of it: currently Szell and Scherchen probably get more play with me than any other performances of the piece.

[Larry Rinkel]

My favourite is the Klemperer.  His tempi aren't particularly slow with this symphony (compared with the 5th that he almost brings to a standstill several times).   Schumann got it wrong - It's far from a slender greek maiden.  I've found it very forward looking and far less conservative than the 3rd and 5th.  It doesn't even resolve into the definitive key of Bb major until about bar 50!   (I may have to edit that, I'll look at the score!)   What other symphony of those times dared do that sort of thing?   

It resolves in Bb maj in bar 43.

.

You're the first person (well, perhaps not the first person - I can think of one other I won't name) whom I've heard describe the 3rd and 5th symphonies of Beethoven as conservative. But this is not the first time Beethoven has approached the tonic key of a movement obliquely: even in the 1st symphony, the introduction starts on V7 of IV, and in the Eb sonata op. 31/3 the first movement starts on the supertonic, which leads to some interesting harmonic compensations later on. But the fourth symphony, while is doesn't start in Bb in the major mode, starts on Bb as a key, though in the minor mode and with some remarkable harmonic adventures before leading itself back to Bb in the major at the Allegro.

[Cato]

As an Ohioan I am biased toward George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra!

Stravinsky , in one of his books with Robert Craft, also chose the Fourth as his favorite Beethoven symphony.  Perhaps he liked its more "Olympian" qualities as opposed to the Sturm und Drang of its predecessor and successor.

[locrian]

Buy all of them. You can't have too many LvB symphony recordings. Personally, I own Vanska/Minnesota and Masur/Leipzig. I've owned others in the past as well...

[JoshLilly]

If you want to actually hear all the notes instead of a gigantic, modernised mush: Gardiner.