Beethoven: Symphonies 3 "Eroica" & 4

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), David Zinman (Conductor), Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra
• Conductor: David Zinman
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (May 10, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arte Nova Classics
• ASIN: B00096S2QY
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,312 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ('Eroica'), Op. 55: 1. Allegro con brio

2. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ('Eroica'), Op. 55: 2. Marcia funebre

3. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ('Eroica'), Op. 55: 3. Scherzo

4. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ('Eroica'), Op. 55: 4. Finale: Allegro molto

5. Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60: 1. Adagio. Allegro vivace

6. Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60: 2. Adagio

7. Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60: 3. Allegro vivace

8. Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60: 4. Allegro ma non troppo

Editorial Reviews

"David Zinman’s account of the Fourth Symphony is fleet and mercurial, as compelling a case as we have for honouring Beethoven’s fast metronome markings and, in the finale, bursting with unforced vitality...Few Beethoven Fourths tell a happier tale, and there is none at budget price that even begins to compete with this one...

Viewed as a whole, Zinman’s Eroica levels with various up-tempo period-instrument alternatives, though its many distinguishing features include a notably animated and quick-witted first-movement development section. The Marcia funebre is a very marchable quaver=80 (Beethoven’s prescribed tempo), with sundry unfamiliar embellishments to the oboe line and some rugged drama later on...In other respects, and taking on board various minor novelties of phrase and nuance, Zinman parades a lean, sprightly, incisively articulated Eroica, ‘late classical’ rather than ‘early romantic’ in style (very roughly speaking) and a joyous alternative to the grand though heavy artillery favoured by earlier generations of conductors. Of course, I wouldn’t want to miss out on them, either; but Zinman helps adjust our ears for a new perspective – without dropping the pitch or inflicting enfeebled string sonorities on us (not my cup of tea, as you may already have guessed). For my money – and, happily, not much of it is needed – his is the most palatably performed presentation of the Beethoven symphony as valeted by modern scholarship. The recordings are generally first-rate." GRAMOPHONE (February 1999)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exploring the Beethoven Symphonies -- Nos. 3 and 4, September 24, 2007

By 

Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies 3 "Eroica" & 4 (Audio CD)

In the 1990s, the American conductor David Zinman recorded the nine Beethoven symphonies with the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich using a new performing edition (the Barenreiter edition) by Jonathan Del Mar. Zinman gives a period reading of the symphonies using modern instruments. Zinman's budget-priced readings are available in a complete set of 5 CDs or on individual disks. I prefer the listening and reviewing based upon the latter approach, as it allows more attention to each individual work.

This CD includes the "Eroica" symphony, no. 3 in E flat, op. 55, and the symphony no. 4 in B flat, op. 60. Zinman's performances of these works are among his best of the nine. Tempos are very fast, but the performances have a great fluidity and lightness. The winds are especially prominent especially in solo passages, some of which are unique to the Barenreiter edition.

For listeners new to this music, Beethoven's Eroica, dating from 1804, in its size, grandeur, and emotion, is a monumental work which changed the course of music. The work bears a close connection to Napoleon, but Beethoven's final product is a tribute to the heroic and creative spirit in man, rather than in any individual. Professor Lewis Lockwood, in his recent book on Beethoven has aptly-described the Eroica:

"The 'hero' of the Eroica is not a single figure but a composite of heroes of different types and different situations. In the first movement the heroic is felt in musical images that evoke grandeur, conflict, and nobility of spirit; in the slow movement a fallen hero is mourned and brought to final rest; in the Scherzo and above all the Trio, we hear horn calls to battle, alsong with 'a strange voice' at the end, a return to the chromatic mystery of the the symphony's opening ideas. And the finale evokes a 'Promethean' hero who (in the ballet, its direct antecedent brought wisdom and the arts and sciences to the world." ("Beethoven: The Music and the Life", p. 213)

Zinman offers a strong, flowing reading of the Eroica, with the Del Mar edition including some surprises in instrumentation in the finale. The horns in the first and third movement and the tympani in the second movement together with the winds in general receive marked prominence in Zinman's performance of this grand, inexhaustible work.

Beethoven's Fourth symphony dates from 1806 and, unfortunately, remains the least performed of the nine. Too often, Beethoven has become associated only with the heroic style of the Eroica and a handful of other works. Works such as the Fourth symphony are compared with the "heroic" style and unfairly judged as not meeting its standard. In fact, Beethoven cannot be encompassed in any one style, and the Fourth is a masterwork in its own right. The work is full of a reckless good humor in its first, third and fourth movements. The second movement is an elaborately lyrical song. Beethoven's writing emphasizes the winds -- listen to the flute in the second movement and the bassoon in the finale -- and the tympani throughout. The finale also includes extensive passages for the string bass. The third movement of this symphony is notable for trio section, which appears twice, sandwiched between the lively scherzo theme. Robert Schumann wrote of the Fourth that it was "a Greek maiden between two Norse giants" while Hector Berlioz said "the character is generally lively, nimble, joyous, or of a heavenly sweetness." The Fourth does not have the programmtic suggestions of the Eroica but is rather a work of joyous and beautifully balanced pure music.

Those listeners new to Beethoven will be inspired to hear more from these fine performances. Listeners who already know Beethoven's symphonies will invariably have their own responses in comparing Zinman's readings to their long-loved favorites.

Robin Friedman

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rushed Eroica, May 17, 2008

By 

Doug McDonald "Doug McDonald" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies 3 "Eroica" & 4 (Audio CD)

The editorial review is technically accurate. But it does not emphasize the bottom line: that a performance as rushed as this is leaves little room for nuance. Sure, the conductor can try to modulate the dynamics, or emphasize or deemphasize a sforzando here or there, but it is so fast that there is no room for noticeable rubato or crescendo or diminuendo within a given note.
These are the the big items that the great conductors of the past used to interpret music. For example, compare this to the great Monteux/Concertgebouw performance and it comes up lacking.

Doug McDonald

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It takes no prisoners, September 11, 2010

By 

Alric Knebel (Biloxi, MS) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies 3 "Eroica" & 4 (Audio CD)

As a person who cannot play a musical instrument, I approach all types of music from the gut. I either like or I don't, and I can't even really tell you why. I heard EROICA for the first time around 1973, and I've heard it countless times since then. No matter the conductor, it's always thrilled me, and this performance by Zinman is the third recording I've owned (the one previously, which I lost in a storm, was by Roger Norrington). I bought this particular CD because some of the reviews were good. It was a shot in the dark, but as it turns out, I liked this version way more than Norrington's. Perhaps it is too fast, as another reviewer said. Maybe it does lack nuances. Maybe it doesn't compare well to a recording in someone else's previous or later cycle. I just don't know. All I know is I love the 3rd Symphony, especially the 1st and 3rd movements, and I absolutely love THIS performance of it. It roams, it soars, and sweeps me up as it passes by; I think at times of birds and trees and horses. I especially love the drive of the Scherzo (whatever SCHERZO means), with violins followed by the deeper cellos, adding something solid and imminent to it. It's great. At times I feel my ability to apprehend it straining against my limitations, but I then force myself to get over it and just listen.

This performance is my favorite so far. That's not saying much, as I haven't made it a mission to hear every performance out there. I do know that the recording quality is lustrous, with great depth and dimension. I love it, and if you have the same unsophisticated appreciation of music as I do, and you're looking for a good performance, then you'll probably love it, too. It's powerful; it makes your blood race. Reading some of these more precise reviews, I'm sort of glad I'm not educated in the matter, because I'm free to sit and simply hear it for what it is, for its blunt impact on ME. I have to trust that Zinman knows what he's doing, and he definitely knows more than I know.

The 4th Symphony is here, too. It doesn't overwhelm me the way the 3rd does, but after hearing it so often on this album, I'm starting to discover hooks that turn it into a delicious experience. It definitely bears Beethoven's wild stamp.
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