Customer Reviews

Beethoven: The Nine Symphonies ~ Pletnev

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Russia doesn't really have a Beethoven tradition that has made its mark on recordings, so this complete cycle of the nine symphonies from Pletnev and his Russian National Orch. is something of a milestone. Even Mravinsky, who showed flashes of inspiration as a Beethoven interpreter, gave us nothing close to a complete cycle. Yet no one could say that Pletnev's style is "typcially Russian" or typically anything else. He has thrown caution to the winds, following any whim that occurs to him. Since he has an original musical soul, the results are strange and wonderful, and totally unpredictable.

I am giving Pletnev's efforts five stars because the only alternative is to throw up my hands. There are times when the whole enterprise seems like an elaborate prank--witness the three different tempos that Pletnev applies to the first four bars of the Pastorale before deciding to race off at lightning speed, only to slam on the brakes thrity bars later. Balances are at times extremely different from the norm; there are sudden enormous slow downs, as in the Trio of the Eroica's Scherzo; Pletnev flirts with the lightness of the period movement, only to wallow the next moment in a voluptuous romanticism that would have made Mengelberg blush (only the wayward, brilliant Dutch conductor can be offered as a parallel). By comparison, Bernstien seems like the village priest.

As for a detailed review of each symphony, I'll leave that to others -- or to a later entry after I've absorbed this shockingly original set. But my first impression is one of exhilaration blended with total bafflement. What is this wild man doing to Beethoven? You'll have to give him a listen to find out.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I own over 35 sets of Beethoven symphonies and these sound like no others. I don't quite buy the explanations in the enclosed booklet as to why Pletnev interpreted these symphonies in this manner. Those "Pleasant, cheerful feelings awakened..." were squashed at breakneck speed in the Pastoral. These recordings are not all bad, though. The Russian National Orchestra is an excellent ensemble and they have many great moments here. It seems that Pletnev took it easy on the lesser known symphonies (1,2, &8) as these are pretty good. Even in the 4th and 7th, the conductor only took limited liberties with tempos. For the most part he let the classical-style symphonies remain classical. Except for a rather swift second movement, the Ninth is very good. As for the rest, you have to hear them to believe them. Tempo changes abound. It's definitely not your grandfather's Beethoven !!

Classical music performance by definition must balance the constraints of written score with the interprative vision of conductor and ensemble. Without question, Mr. Pletnev's Beethoven Symphonies stress this equation heavily to the latter. His tempi are varied, his sensibilities and sonorities unique. Yet like Janine Jansen's recent reworking of Vivaldi's Four Seasons for small ensemble Vivaldi: The Four Seasons - Janine Jansen the bold choices reinvigorate the transcendent timelessness, the soul stirring / wonder-inducing sense of inevitable truth that Beethoven's masterorks induce in this listener. I appreciate and admire the more conventional achievements of von Karajan, Sir Charles Mackerras, Simon Rattle, Roger Norrington and others but perhaps it took the jolt of Pletnev's radical conception to reawaken my more visceral response to these symphonies.

So while the purists will recoil (see James Leonard's review at All Music Guide) I will rejoice that there is still something fresh to be brought into these revered works, so that rather than a complacent nod of "yes, that's how it should be played" we can prick up our ears with re-engaged interest and acknowledge, "oh yes, that's how it can be played." Such is the bold spirit that keeps classics alive.

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.
Pletnev's tempi are inconsistent, changeable and sometimes very fast- the Finale of the 2nd for instance. In fact, they sometimes sound uncomfortably fast for the musicians to articulate, although the Russian National Orchestra achieve amazing results. But do things have to go hell for leather merely in order to illustrate the point (expressed by Pletnev in the booklet) that Beethoven's genius was white-hot? After the formality and restraint of the RNO/Pletnev DG Tchaikovsky symphonies (which I rate highly), this set comes as a shock.
I guess that's the point. I would rather be brought up short and challenged by a new Beethoven set than be bored by it (hence 4 stars). In the 1st movt of the Eroica is a ragged passage where the violins get out of time with the rest of the orchestra, if only for a couple of measures. That kind of detail is hard to live with, once you notice it.
Against that, one has to weigh the undoubted excitement of these very personal performances. They are not scaled down for reasons of 'historical authenticity', nor are they Klemperer-magisterial, or Abbado-elegant. They are spontaneous, wilful even. Not a first choice, but certainly an interesting one. The sound quality is excellent.

Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra take these old warhorses apart, polish each of the pieces, hold each of Ludwig's moves up to the light, and then reassemble them with a kind of electric energy that leaves you breathless. It's like hearing the nine symphonies for the first time. Even their treatment of the "lesser ones" like # 1, 2, 4, 8 make you wonder how you never appreciated their greatness before. So buckle up you seatbelts and turn up the sound. Here come the Russians!

I note with amusement that the objection consistently raised against this set is that it doesn't sound like other people's Beethoven. Isn't that a good thing? If I wanted to hear someone else's Beethoven, I'd go put on one of the other sets I have.

With these recordings, Pletnev has allowed the pendulum of performance practice to swing back, after decades of misguided interpretations by the Historically Informed Performance crowd--rigid, lifeless performances that focused on the marks on paper (to quote one such conductor's notes) instead of the visceral quality of real music making, in an attempt to recapture what was heard at the time the composer was alive.

Sorry, but our modern minds are filled with completely different experiences than those of times past, and we cannot possibly recapture the subjective experience of other eras.

Wisely, Pletnev has given us Beethoven for the 21st-century mind, for the person who has heard all that has come after Beethoven's time. But don't think this is "hooked on Beethoven" or some other tawdry, demeaning reworking of the master's masterworks. Pletnev's recordings show a thorough understanding of the music, a visceral reaction to it, and reflections of having heard other great masters' works. Sibelius and Tchaikovsky came to mind most often as I listened to this set. But again I must stress that there are no cheap tricks involved in any of these performances; it's just that Pletnev's performances embrace the entire consciousness of the contemporary musical mind. This is not destructive to Beethoven's music in any way; it places Beethoven in context in today's world.

No matter how others may complain about Pletnev's tempo changes, every one makes sense. He brings out amazing details, highlights bits of melody, and allows you to hear things as you never had before.

The recording engineers helped greatly, too, with a sound that is rich, balanced, and marvelously detailed.

I would recommend this set of Beethoven symphonies above all others.

In the realm of classical music there seems to arisen a trend toward conflating speed with intensity and/or virtuosity. I admit that when listening to many earlier recordings of the "greats" like Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Bach they seem to drag, as if playing through a thin layer of cold molasses. So I like crisp - of which speed is only one component. When playing fast, the performers should not lose control of "crisp" (staccato/legato), dynamics, or articulate phrasing. There is also just plain too damn fast to hear. Runs and arpeggios flashing by like lights flickering from the windows of a subway train at full speed. Drinking from a firehose. Where's the enjoyment in that?

Certainly not all, but, as elaborated in other reviews, some of the Pletnev Beethoven suffers from this speed syndrome. Beethoven needs both punch and fluff. I've loved Pletnev's fire in other of his performances. But here, as in much of Glenn Gould's rendition of Mozart sonatas, that much speed kills (by the way I cheat. The unpleasantly fast movements I've put through my .wav editor to slow down by about 10%. Makes a big difference :) )

Other than that I like the set very much, and not more, not less than other modern "crisp" interpretations such as John Gardiner's and Osmo Vanska's Beethoven. The Russian National Orchestra has first rate intonation, ensemble, and solo work. The sound ambience is very good.

A recommended buy? A qualified yes. Yes, if you can handle the hyperspeedy movements. A full yes, if you can "cheat" as mentioned earlier.

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This is the most exciting Beethoven set out there: it makes the admittedly splendid Von Karajan/BPO set Ludwig van Beethoven: 9 Symphonien seem nearly drab.

Russian professional musicians have always been technically sharp, as they certainly are here. The recorded sound is great.

But what makes this set so exceptionally thrilling and spectacular is Pletnev and the RNO's employment of the Russian critical method of defamiliarization.

In critical defamiliarization, cognitave experiences as conceived from a text--(and in this case, four-dimentional realized music)--are represented from unusual perspectives or in unconventional expressions that create a [surreal] "irritation" which intentionally disturbs our preconceived ideas of that text, thereby encouraging us to consider things in a new and sometimes quite special way.

Of course any highly original realization of a musical text will reveal different voicings, accents, or even tempi, according to the aesthetic personality of the musician. Indeed, this brilliant Russian defamiliarization of Beethoven's symphonic texts takes the Art to yet another level.

Just to look at the tempi for example:

in No. 1, Pletnev/RNO give the beautiful echt-Beethovenian Andante cantabile [movement ii] a delightfully expansive :08+mins, whereas Karajan/BPO is <:06mins.

That's a big difference in concept and execution!

Likewise No. 4 movement i [Adagio-Allegro vivace]: P/RNO=>:11mins; K/BPO=<:10mins.

In the exquisite No. 6, movement iii ["the Merry Gathering of Country Folk," Allegro], P/RNO=~:05.5mins; K/BPO=:03mins; while Abbado/VPO=:03.5mins, and Böhm/VPO=<:04mins.

[ Beethoven: Symphony No. 6; Fantasia / Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, Schubert: Symphony No. 5 / Böhm, Vienna Philharmonic Orch. / Beethoven - Die Symphonien (Symphonies 1-9) / Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic ]

In the incredible Molto vivace scherzo of No. 9, [movement ii], P/RNO=>:12mins; K/BPO=<:11mins; B/VPO=>:13mins.
While in the heavenly Adagio cantabile [movement iii], P/RNO=<:12mins; K/BPO=>:16mins; and B/VPO=an unbelieveable >:18mins!

[ Beethoven: Symphonie No. 9 ]

So, all in all, this P/RNO cycle is a wonderfully aesthetically stimulating scintillating set which must not be missed by enthusiasts of true Art.
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This is the collection for anyone who thinks Beethoven's symphonies have been recorded "enough, so why do we need another one". There is more 'different' here vs. the traditional standbys such as Karajan than there is in the various 'original instrument' incarnations. The shifts in tempo and dynamics are generally more extreme and abrupt than in any Beethoven I've previously heard, but I don't find it disagreeable at all. Rather, it's like hearing 'new' music for the first time. The articulation is clean and light where appropriate, with different balances in the orchestral forces than those to which I'm accustomed. I'm sure some listeners will hate parts of these performances, but listening to them after long familiarity with Karajan, Klemperer, Bernstein, Szell is refreshing. There is actually in Pletnev, a conductor who sees Beethoven differently! Whether for good or bad is in the opinion of the listener.

I'm not sure why--maybe it was a review here on Amazon--but I downloaded Pletnev's rendition of Beethoven's 2nd symphony and it is exquisite. I also got the 9th, but, like so many, that is an entirely unsatisfying rendition. But the 2nd, Ah!