Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

[BachQ]

For all Tan/Norrington fans:

This ($14.95):

Is being re-released as this ($27.95):

This is a HIP performance on fortepiano ........... Phone the neighbors and wake the kids folks .......

Customer Reviews can be found by clicking HERE

[BachQ]

Sibelius: Pelléas and Mélisande,Violin Concerto; Beethoven: Symphony No.6 'Pastorale'
Gidon Kremer, Russian National Orchestra/Mikhail Pletnev
Festpielhaus Baden-Baden, 21 April 2008



It would take the multilingual erudition as a master of musical aesthetics of a Gidon Kremer or a Mikhail Pletnev, turning his visions into magic performances as a virtuoso and conductor, adequately to find words to describe this concert. These two stars, so unwilling to play the role of stars, joined forces to present Sibelius at his most inward-looking and Beethoven's 'Pastorale' with a new glow of gentle humanity. This humble reviewer can only bow in gratitude for such an unforgettable experience.

The full orchestral suite Pelléas and Mélisande by Sibelius is rarely included in the repertory of great orchestras. A pity, because it contains the essence of the brooding melancholy of this composer, coupled with meltingly romantic themes, without being burdened with his often ponderous longeurs. Its brilliant orchestration allowed all the principals of the Russian National Orchestra to demonstrate a delicacy and deep emotional involvement, without being egged on by a meddling Kapellmeister.

Indeed, the work of Mikhail Pletnev - who founded this orchestra almost 20 years ago without any help from the Soviet government at that time still wallowing in its Breshnevian stupour - all seems to get done before the performances. His vision, his radical removal of the barnacles attached by tradition to the conventional interpretations of his large repertoire, is firmly implanted on every member of his orchestra. Because the orchestra is exclusively privately funded and assisted by foundations located in the USA and the UK, it employs in all sections the finest talents now available in Russia, without interference from vested interests of the old guard. Perhaps as many as two thirds of the members are in their twenties or early thirties and Pletnev needs not cajole or drive them by ostentatious body language to produce a superbly homogenous sound: supple and eloquent in its winds, robust and brazen in its brass sections, and virtuosic throughout its strings. Their two principal cellists are amongst the few more mature members, one of them looking remarkably like a formally dressed Misha Maisky; their playing, beautifully co-ordinated and constantly fully engaged, was a pleasure to watch. Even their timpanist rose somtimes in ferocious temper or subtly caressed his instruments. I cannot recall a more beautifully performed horn solo in the dangerously exposed allegro of the 'Pastorale' - only one of many memorable solos from all sections.

In all three works on the programme, there were many opportunities to show how a full-blown orchestral sound can be both majestic and warmly burnished, or how the musicians were able subtely to tiptoe their way through the intricate scoring of the the allegro of the 'Pastorale'. Pletnev is well known to eschew all star-like superficialities. His elbows are mostly kept near his body and he conducts with minute flicks of his baton, just turning to the sections he wants to be heard more prominently. In solo passages, or even in fast tutti sections, he often stops using his baton altogether and allows complete freedom to the orchestra. In accompanying Gidon Kremer in Sibelius's Violin Concerto, he totally accommodated Kremer's intimate vision and scaled down the orchestral outburts to match the soloist's deeply private conception of the piece.

I happen to have played as a student in the orchestra accompanying a brave and very talented masterclass student of Jeno Hubay daring to play the Sibelius, a mere twenty years after it was first performed and long before Heifetz established the yardsticks by which peformances are still measured. In those years, the technical difficulties could be mastered only by very few performers and at speeds that by today's standards seem sluggish. Even Ferenc Vecsey, the dedicatee of the concerto, whose career as the leading virtuoso of the age was cut short by his early death, could not adequately cope with the extraodinary technical demands of the work.

For Kremer, and for so many of the superb virtuosos of our age, technical difficulties do not seem to matter any longer. Yet Kremer brings to this work an almost philosophical detachment, away from the superficial glories of the concerto he makes it a vehicle of an intimate confession, hardly allowed to be shared by an audience. The very first bars are played with an ethereal and melancholy gentleness that leaves its mark on the rest. In the last movement Kremer displayed a virtuosity that ennobled the mere fireworks of harmonic doublestops, acrobatic leaps, upbow crossstrings, spiccato runs - and all this at a bracingly pulsating tempo. At one point near then end, his E string broke under his strident bowing. Without a moment's hesitation, he picked up the violin of the player sitting just behind him, and continued to play the fiendish passages as if nothing had happened.

Beethoven's Sixth is perhaps the best loved of his symphonies, but in the course of 200 years it has become corseted into traditions which even great interpreters hesitate to ignore. Pletnev has the stature to do so. The very first twelve bars are phrased and played at speeds that are utterly new and, to me, were a revelation. We've all heard this work innumerable times and all interprations seem to have differed only in minute details, depending on the brilliance or lack of it of the performing orchestras. Pletnev challenged all this. His recent recordings of all the nine Beethoven symphonies with his orchestra are acknowledged by critics as opening our ears to entirely new aspects and motivations of these works. It was this diversity, this searching and finding completely new subtleties in phrasing, counterpoint and colours of orchestration, that made me sit up in wonderment and delight.

I must be forgiven for perhaps being overenthusiastic about a mere orchestral concert. However, there was more in this for me than just a an enjoyable way of passing an evening. I learnt, towards the end of my own; musical life, that we must not take traditional interpretations for granted and when we put ourselves in the hands of masters like a Mikhail Pletnev or a Gidon Kremer, an entire new world can yet open in our jaded ears.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Re Pletnev: I like this comment from an Amazon reviewer:

I agree with the first reviewer. One's reaction to this set can only be love it or hate it. I've yet to decide.

[Gurn Blanston]

For all Tan/Norrington fans:

This ($14.95):

Is being re-released as this ($27.95):

This is a HIP performance on fortepiano ........... Phone the neighbors and wake the kids folks .......

Customer Reviews can be found by clicking HERE

Thanks, d, I had held up buying it because it was too inexpensive. I guess I can put it on my list now...    

[MN Dave]

Thanks, d, I had held up buying it because it was too inexpensive. I guess I can put it on my list now...

I'm still waiting for the price to go even higher. Why should I pay so little?

[Renfield]

Re Pletnev: I like this comment from an Amazon reviewer:

I know I love his work.

Edit: And his pianism, too.

[Sergeant Rock]

For all Tan/Norrington fans:
Is being re-released as this ($27.95):

€11.99 ($19) from JPC:

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/7246009?rk=classic&rsk=hitlist


Sarge

[M forever]

For all Tan/Norrington fans

I wouldn't call myself a Norrington "fan", but I have always found his contributions very interesting and often stimulating. Not this, though. This is pretty much like the cliche of HIP, somebody banging around on a wiry sounding keyboard without much musical character or value. If you want to hear these concertos played on "period" instruments, I would recommend listening to Robert Levine's recordings with the ORR/Gardiner - while I don't find Gardiner's recordings of the symphonies all that interesting, Levin is a fantastic pianist and a true expert of the classical style, and Gardiner provides good accompaniment to him here.

[BachQ]

Piano Trios - No. 5 in D, Op. 70/1, 'Ghost';No. 6 in E flat, Op. 70/2;No. 9 in B flat, WoO39
Florestan Trio(Susan Tomes pf,Anthony Marwood vn,Richard Lester vc)
Hyperion New CD     CDA67327 (60 minutes : DDD)



Gramophone

A vital first instalment in the Florestan's urgent new cycle of Beethoven Piano Trios

Here's a recording that immediately, from the first, impetuous bars of Op 70 No 1, feels just right. In this movement the Florestan makes the long second repeat, but there's such a sense of momentum that no one could find it too extended or repetitious. Indeed, the reiterated chords that precede the lead-back reignite our concentration with their air of tense mystery. And when we reach this point for the second time, the G major harmony at the start of the coda has a wonderful, dense tranquillity. The famous 'Ghost' movement creates a powerful, chilling effect, with stark, senza vibrato string tone and the extraordinary writing in the piano's deep bass register exploited by Susan Tomes with superb control and sensitivity. Beethoven's thick, growling left-hand parts can be problematic, but Tomes always manages to produce a strong effect – fierce and abrupt in the second movement of Op 70 No2, rich and warm in the following Allegretto – without ever sounding overpowering or ugly.

The E flat Trio is something of a Cinderella work, but the Florestan performance helps us to see it as a major achievement of Beethoven's middle period. I love the way that, though they are a thoughtful, highly-controlled group, there's room for moments of the most intense expression, as when, in the opening Allegro, Anthony Marwood leads the upward sequence that starts the development to such a passionate climax. And the finale, one of Beethoven's most prodigiously inventive pieces, has in this performance a feeling of uninhibited enjoyment. The recorded sound and balance is up to Hyperion's usual high standard.
 
Duncan Druce

[MN Dave]

Gramophone likes a recording from a British label. Imagine that.

[Don]

Gramophone likes a recording from a British label. Imagine that.

Fanfare Magazine also praised the recordings.

[MN Dave]

Fanfare Magazine also praised the recordings.

Well, that's okay then.

[Renfield]

Gramophone likes a recording from a British label. Imagine that.

Hyperion isn't "a British label", though. It's among the British labels.

[MN Dave]

Hyperion isn't "a British label", though. It's among the British labels.

[Renfield]

I mean to say, it's not ye olde random British label that's never published anything good...

There are a lot of very outstanding Hyperion discs around, so they do have a certain standard.

[MN Dave]

I mean to say, it's not ye olde random British label that's never published anything good...

There are a lot of very outstanding Hyperion discs around, so they do have a certain standard.

You are correct, but I wouldn't read Gramophone to find out which ones are good.

[Renfield]

You are correct, but I wouldn't read Gramophone to find out which ones are good.

That is another story.

[M forever]

I happen to have played as a student in the orchestra accompanying a brave and very talented masterclass student of Jeno Hubay daring to play the Sibelius, a mere twenty years after it was first performed

Huh? The violin concerto was premiered in 1903, the revised version in 1905. How old is that reviewer?

Beethoven's Sixth is perhaps the best loved of his symphonies, but in the course of 200 years it has become corseted into traditions which even great interpreters hesitate to ignore. Pletnev has the stature to do so. The very first twelve bars are phrased and played at speeds that are utterly new and, to me, were a revelation. We've all heard this work innumerable times and all interprations seem to have differed only in minute details, depending on the brilliance or lack of it of the performing orchestras. Pletnev challenged all this. His recent recordings of all the nine Beethoven symphonies with his orchestra are acknowledged by critics as opening our ears to entirely new aspects and motivations of these works.

Complete nonsense. The stylistic spectrum of Beethoven interpretation is *vast*, there are so many different stylistic approaches to performing his symphonies in particular, and the whole "HIP" thing has started challenging all of the - very diverse - traditional schools of interpretation decades ago which has resulted in an even wider and more complex spectrum of performance styles. Since that reviewer is apparently over 100 years old, where has he been in the last 50 years? Or has he gone deaf 50 years ago? A very strange contribution - just like Pletnev's Beethoven recordings which aren't "challenging" - they are just random and nonsensical.

[not edward]

Huh? The violin concerto was premiered in 1903, the revised version in 1905. How old is that reviewer?

If you follow the link, he was born in 1913 and studied cello at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest.

[BachQ]

NYT, April 26, 2008, MUSIC REVIEW, Andsnes's Beethoven