Beethoven: Symphonies No. 6 'Pastoral' & No. 2 [Hybrid SACD - DSD]

Beethoven (Composer), Paavo Jarvi (Conductor), Deutsches Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Deutsches Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
• Conductor: Paavo Jarvi
• Composer: Beethoven
• Audio CD (November 3, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
• Label: Sony BMG Red Seal / RCA
• ASIN: B002DU7OS6
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,566 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Beethoven: Symphonies No. 6 in F, Op.68 "Pastoral"; I Angenehme, heitere Empfindungen, welche bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande im Menschen erwachen. Allegro ma non troppo

2. Beethoven: Symphonies No. 6 in F, Op.68 "Pastoral"; II Szene am Bach. Andante molto mosso

3. Beethoven: Symphonies No. 6 in F, Op.68 "Pastoral"; III Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute. Allegro

4. Beethoven: Symphonies No. 6 in F, Op.68 "Pastoral"; IV Donner, Sturm. Allegro

5. Beethoven: Symphonies No. 6 in F, Op.68 "Pastoral"; V Hirtengesang. Wohltaumlige, mit Dank an die Gottheit verbundene Gefühle nach dem Sturm. Allegretto

6. Beethoven: Symphony No.2 in D, Op.36; I Adagio molto - Allegro con brio

7. Beethoven: Symphony No.2 in D, Op.36; II Larghetto

8. Beethoven: Symphony No.2 in D, Op.36; III Scherzo - Allegro

9. Beethoven: Symphony No.2 in D, Op.36; IV Allegro molto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended with Reservation, August 27, 2009

By 

Prescott Cunningham Moore (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies No. 6 'Pastoral' & No. 2 (Audio CD)

I have one complaint about this otherwise stunning Second. Jarvi elicits some strange timbres from the horns in the first movement (are they muted?) which is interesting to say the least but somewhat unexpected. In all other respects, this is a pretty spectacular Second that stands with Vanska's fine Second as modern reference performances. Jarvi takes the allegro at a reasonable pace, unearthing some fantastic details along the way. I particularly love the prominence given to the winds; has their piquant and puckish writing in the first tutti outburst ever registered with such clarity before or have the bassoon, oboe, and flute interjections at the beginning of the development ever been so prominent? I can think of no other recording with such an array of colors. Or course, the string and brass are equally wonderful, especially in the coda, where the trumpets are full-bodied but do not overwhelm the sonic landscape. The largretto is equally superb, Jarvi really highlighting the various mood-shifts throughout this pastoral movement. The scherzo is bumptious without sounding ponderous, while the trio is just a delight. Jarvi really underscores Beethoven's humor in the trio with a really big fortissimo after the quite string passage followed by the laughing of the lower strings and bassoon. This comic surprise and chuckle is exactly what Beethoven would have wanted. The finale is frothy fun, as it always is, but Jarvi adds depth with some really exceptional lower string playing. The coda is just magnificent, Jarvi again tapping into Beethoven brilliant comedy like a hand in a glove. All the mercurial twists and turns, the fake cadences, the comic wind chirping, smile from the speakers. A joy from start to finish.

I take more issue with the Sixth, as I expected I would, due mainly to the size of the orchestra. But first, Jarvi's interpretation. The first two movements are as good as any, Jarvi adopting wonderful tempos for each. The scene by the brook is particularly wonderful, all the birdcalls registering with appropriate beauty and charm. The scherzo is appropriately buoyant and ruckus while the drunken stumble is handled quite well. The storm is fierce and while Jarvi does not shape the finale storm outburst like some (Vanska immediately comes to mind), I can think of few conductors that handle the end of the storm so well. Jarvi slows the tempo allowing both the oboe to sound appropriately thankful and the lower strings to sound like distant thunder. The finale is equally fine, especially do to some vigorous playing from the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie. The final hymn is appropriately organ-like, while the coda is perfectly paced, atmospheric, religious, and calm. My main issue with this performance rises from the fact that the small number of lower strings cannot create those deep pedal tones necessary to support a symphony with no percussion (thunderstorm excluded). Similarly, the violins cannot match the brass in the thunderstorm and while their small number creates great textural clarity, tension can falter a bit when the brass drop out, exposing a somewhat desiccated sounding string section. However, the smaller forces not only allow for textual clarity, but create an appropriately rustic sound in the outer movements and open up the sonic landscape in the extraordinary scene by the brook. Listeners wanting a really spectacular Sixth should look to Vanska's recent Minnesota recording on BIS, not to mention any of the great reference pastorales, like Bohm or Wand. But those collecting the cycle will be pleased with this entry and will certainly enjoy Jarvi's rustic journey through the countryside.

I feel somewhat guilty for taking issue with this magnificent release. It is such an extraordinary time for Beethoven lovers. This cycle, along with Vanska's, represent the new reference editions of the 21 century. And together, they offer extremes of the interpretive spectrum. Vanska is certainly in the tradition of the great Beethoven conductors of the past, like Szell or Wand, while Jarvi stands alongside Zinman and Haintink (in his recent London Symphony cycle) as a master of the historically informed performance. So, with my aforementioned reservation in mind, I recommend this release.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paavo Jarvi and Bremen players Amaze!, February 21, 2010

By 

Matthew Lloyd Karr (Louisviile KY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies No. 6 'Pastoral' & No. 2 (Audio CD)

I recently heard of this European Chamber Orchestra, and now I'm a fan. These Beethoven Symphonies are nothing short of a revelation! Their playing is clear and clean, vibrato free. The sound is is warm and rich, and Subito's and Sfzorzandi are extremely energetic. Simply put, the best Beethoven recordings in existence, and I should know....I have played Principal Bassoon in a Major USA Orchestra for 31 years! Matt K.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars *** 1/2 A polished period recording that reduces Beethoven to a chamber music symphonist along the lines of Haydn, December 14, 2010

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies No. 6 'Pastoral' & No. 2 (Audio CD)

This recording gives a snapshot of where period performance has gone since it grabbed the spotlight twenty years ago with the startling appearance of HIP Beethoven from Roger Norrington and John Eliot Gardiner. Some things is Paavo Jarvi's "Pastorale," once radical sounding, are now accepted practice: no vibrato in the strings, quick tempos (often trying to keep up with Beethoven's metronome markings, which for generations were considered untrustworthy of even impossible to follow), very light textures, and a stylistic glance over the shoulder to the classical manners of Haydn. these are such hallmarks, in fact, that Jarvi would have to offer something new to set himself apart from the pack.

First he offers a small orchestra, far closer to chamber size than the full symphony orchestras used by Harnoncourt and Norrington (I'm thinking of is recent Beethoven from Stuttgart rather than his pioneering set with the smaller London Classical Players). As a result, the winds are frequently more prominent than the strings -- in the slow movement a solo flute counts as much as the whole violin body. Next, Jarvi veers away form Baroque scaled dynamics and hairpin crescendo-diminuendo, so he sounds much less like Bach than the early music groups of yore, Like Harnoncourt's Chamber Orch. of Europe, Jarvi's Bremen musicians play on modern instruments (although I hear gut strings and valveless horns, if I'm not mistaken).

But the main difference between this recent "Pastorale" and the old school HIP recordings is that the tempos aren't rigid and the phrasing is flexible rather than mechanistic. Bringing emotion back into Beethoven took a long time, and some HIP purists would label any loosening of the stays a concession to dreaded romanticism. I've gone into some detail because except for this difference in phrasing, Jarvi leads a completely typical HIP reading. I hear no stamp of personality and certainly no passion. Each movement moves briskly along accomplishing its primary task, which is to reach the end as quickly as possible. The peasants in the Scherzo display no rustic jocularity; the joke about village musicians in the bassoon part is eliminated. the storm is mild-mannered, the hymn of thanksgiving in the finale devoid of reverence. Everything is shallow, upbeat, and pleasant.

Sym. #2 goes along in exactly the same fashion, although being closer to Haydn's world, it succeeds better. One blessing, for those who want a period recording, is that the technical side is well taken care of: RCA's sound is clear and there are no sour notes and zingy strings to be heard from the orchestra. Countless listeners in the younger generation know no other Beethoven than this, and having heard Jarvi and his Bremen musicians in concert, I can testify that the audience responds enthusiastically.