Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 8 ~ Leibowitz

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), René Leibowitz (Conductor), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: René Leibowitz
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (June 23, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chesky Records
• ASIN: B000003GDJ
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,455 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Symphony No. 6 In F Major 'Pastoral', Op.68: I. Awakening Of Cheerful Feeling Upon Arrival In The Country

2. Symphony No. 6 In F Major 'Pastoral', Op.68: II. Scene By The Brook

3. Symphony No. 6 In F Major 'Pastoral', Op.68: III. Merry Gathering Of Country Folk

4. Symphony No. 6 In F Major 'Pastoral', Op.68: IV. Thunderstorm

5. Symphony No. 6 In F Major 'Pastoral', Op.68: V. Sheperd's Song. Happy And Thankful Feelings After The Storm

6. Symphony No. 8 In F Major, Op. 93: I. Allegro vivace e con brio

7. Symphony No. 8 In F Major, Op. 93: II. Allegretto scherzando

8. Symphony No. 8 In F Major, Op. 93: III. Tempo di Menuetto

9. Symphony No. 8 In F Major, Op. 93: IV. Allegro vivace

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars PASTORAL BEETHOVEN, January 9, 2003

By 

Melvyn M. Sobel "Melvyn M. Sobel" (Freeport, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 8 ~ Leibowitz (Audio CD)

Fine, transparent and well-honed performances by Leibowitz and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1961 London sessions, under the keen production reins of Charles Gerhardt.

There is a keen sense of repose, skillfully blended with an ongoing rusticity, that highlights Symphony No. 6 in the most charming and attractive way. The trilling high in the violins at the opening of the second movement, for example, delights; the pointed, almost concertante deliberation between strings and winds that quickly follows is masterful, yet sweet. The third movement's "merry-making" is deliciously, and ominously, underscored by the oncoming threat of foul weather--- and what a thunderstorm it is! Leibowitz rips into this like one possessed, and it works. The rain pours, lightning skewers the sky, thunder shakes the earth. Well done! Then the last movement apotheosis becalms, leaving us as thankful as shepherds in the country.

Symphony No. 8, recorded just days after No. 6, keeps the momentum flowing. The first movement's opening orchestral flourish sets the tone. No holds barred here; all stops pulled. Leibowitz hurls the symphony headlong throughout. It's a whirlwind of joyous abandon, and positively contageous. I doubt I've heard a more energized or exciting performance.

Under Leibowitz, the RPO plays brilliantly and, yet, often with great warmth. The sound, remarkably, is full, spacious and clear, with not a hint of edge to the upper strings, and plenty of bloom at the bass end.

[Running time: 67:09]

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Leibowitz, February 19, 2002

By 

Patrick A Daley (Fredericton, New Brunswick) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 8 ~ Leibowitz (Audio CD)

Beethoven's 6th Symphony was composed about the same time as the ubiquitous 5th Symphony. They were evidently a pair, and apparently, both works were first performed during the same concert on December 22, 1808, given in the Theater and der Wien.

The Sixth is of quite a different character than the famous Fifth, and was subtitled "A Recollection of Country Life." It is now usually known as the "Pastorale Symphony." Beethoven's picture of country life seems to ignore the hard work, and instead offers a tourists' view: joyful feelings, peaceful scenery, gentle brooks, and merry peasant dances, although there is a wonderful thunderstorm which would have sent everyone scurrying for cover. One might choose, however, to ignore the programmatic associations and simply call the movements allegro ma non troppo, Andante molto mosso, Allegro, Allegro, and Allegretto. Either way, it is a very fine work.

Leibowitz and the Royal Philharmonic gave this a straightforward performance, letting the music speak for itself. It is really a very endearing performance, and it would be hard to find a better one. The second movement is really very lovely, and the storm is very effective. This stands comparison with the very best, whether Bruno Walter, Ansermet, Karajan, or Boult.

Beethoven's 8th Symphony was composed a few years later, along with the more dramatic 7th Symphony. The Eighth is the most whimsical of the Nine Symphonies, providing a mild satire on Beethoven's heavier music, with climaxes which never quite come off as serious, interspersed with whimsical lighter passages.

This is far and way the best Eighth I have ever heard. Leibowitz and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra brought out the humour in the music in a delightful way, as well as its wonderful symphonic structure.

The recording quality (1961) is very fine indeed, as one would expect from the recording engineer, Kenneth G. Wilkinson. The upper strings sound quite smooth, and the stereo image is wide and deep. All in all, a very successful reissue of some great performances. I now have the whole set, and really, it is hard to beat the Leibowitz recordings of the Beethoven Symphonies.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars full of character, and the main character is (to my ears) unfettered joy, November 28, 2010

By 

Discophage (France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 8 ~ Leibowitz (Audio CD)

I never fail to be bowled over when I return to Leibowitz' Beethoven.

I discovered it when it was first reissued on CD in the late 1980s/early 1990s, in Europe by the Swiss label Menuet (a few are listed here: search Leibowitz Beethoven Menuet. I recently acquired the US Chesky reissue, which had the reputation of being better sonically). I don't know what attracted my attention to it, probably a review in a record magazine; I would never have associated the man I viewed as the main (as well as stern and dry) champion of Schoenberg, author of reference but difficult books on the subject and Schoenberg recordings that had become nearly impossible to find at the end of the LP era, and an interpreter of Beethoven or the romantics. Later I realized that, startlingly, Leibowitz had even recorded operettas of Offenbach, or Ravel's L'Heure espagnole! How one reconciles Schoenberg and Offenbach, I don't know. Imagine Boulez doing Offenbach and lifting his thighs, French Can Can-like!

Leibowitz' Beethoven cycle with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded by RCA in 1961 but marketed by The Reader's Digest, was featured as (and is noted for) attempting to follow very precisely Beethoven's metronome marks, which the dominant interpretive tradition had systemically disregarded, viewing them as impossibly fast. Indeed, Leibowitz was much influenced by the seminal essay by Rudolf Kolisch (famous violinist and brother-in-law of Schoenberg) on "tempo and character in the music of Beethoven", published (in incomplete form) in The Musical Quarterly in 1943, volume 29:2 & 3 (April and July; it's been reissued in volume 77 No. 1, Spring 1993, and can be purchased on-line from jstor; it's also been published in the original German and complete form by Musik-Konzepte No. 76/77, ISBN-13: 978-3883772394).

There, using Beethoven's correspondence and other writings, Kolisch showed what a Godsend the invention of the metronome by Mälzel in 1815-6 had been to the composer - in fact it was invented at Beethoven's instigation. For Beethoven, the traditional character indications (Allegro, Andante, Adagio, Presto) gave only a very approximate indication both of tempo and character - he even called them "nonsensical", in that they confused the two notions, which he viewed as "body" (tempo) and "spirit" (character). Once the metronome was invented he considered doing away altogether with the old wording to give tempo indication (using the metronome for that) and reserving the vernacular language for character indication.

But for Beethoven there was no radical separation between "body" and "spirit" either. On the contrary, he considered that the proper tempo was essential to the expression of the character he intended for his music, and the customary understanding of those old tempo/character indications simply led, in his view, to a complete betrayal of the character and intentions of his music:

"We can hardly have any tempi ordinarii any longer, since one must be guided by the ideas of unfettered genius",

and he was incensed at the liberties taken by interpreters with his tempos:

"I consider the invention of the metronome a welcome means of assuring that the performance of my compositions everywhere will be in the tempi that I conceived, which to my regret have so often been misunderstood."

So, in 1817, Beethoven published a pamphlet, "Determination of Musical Tempo According to MALZEL'S Metronome. First Installment. Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1-8 and Septet, designated by the Author Himself ", and this is where the metronome marks that one finds in the scores come from. It was followed by another one devoted to the early string quartets (which was considered lost, but Kolisch found a copy in a New York library), and by various indications for other works (including Sonata op. 109 and 9th Symphony) found in Beethoven's correspondance or manuscripts. Unfortuately Beethoven didn't live to carry out his intention to give the metronome marks for the Missa Solemnis. The notion, sometimes set forth by performers looking for excuses NOT to follow Beethoven's metronome, that those indications were given long after the completion of the works, is simply not true, then, for the 9th. The 7th and 8th had been completed only 5 years before.

Back to Leibowitz then. Not that this "authentic" approach to Beethoven's tempos was without precedent. Toscanini may not have read Kolisch's essay, but his Beethoven was swift - and that was NOTHING compared to Scherchen's Beethoven (complete cycle made between 1951 and 1958 for Westminster, reissues in the West of 1,3,6 and 8 by MCA, Beethoven: Symphonies No 1 & 3 and Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 6 "Pastorale" & Symphony No. 8, 3 & 6 by DG/Westminster Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6 and all by Tahra except for the Eroica which is another performance, Beethoven: Complete Symphonies Vol. 1; Symphonies Nos. 1- 4, Beethoven: Complete Symphonies, Vol. 2, Symphonies Nos. 5-8 and Beethoven: Complete Symphonies, vol. 3 : Symphony No. 9): now THAT was "radical" - inasmuch as scrupulously following what Beethoven has written in his scores can be considered "radical"; but yes, radical: first, in view of the dominant tradition, which conspicuously did NOT do it; and second, because, arguably, if Beethoven isn't radical, than he isn't fully Beethoven (and that's what he himself seemed to think).

But in fact, what makes these Leibowitz interpretations so endearing, is that he is NOT all that radical - more in Toscanini than in Scherchen fashion. He doesn't sacrifice naturalness of expression to musicological and mathematical observance, and his Patorale is in fact rather on the traditional side. His first movement flows at half-note = 58-60, compared to Beethoven's and Scherchen's 66: and Leibowitz' tempo is the same as Szell's here. At that pace, you don't get the geniality and tenderness of, say, Walter (54-55, Beethoven Symphony No. 6 Pastorale (CBS Great Performances)) and even less the lazy lasciviousness of Reiner (circa 50, Symphonies 1 & 6), but a sense of insouciant joy. I find it lovely and irresistible. Leibowitz takes the repeat, an option rarely exercised in those days, even by Scherchen. Again his Scene at the Brook is (very slightly) slower than Walter's, and (more perceptibly) than Szell's (Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6 / Egmont Overture): no radicalism here (all are slightly under but reasonably close to Beethoven's 50 dotted quarter-notes/mn, from Leibowitz' 43-45 to Szell's 48, and in fact, on comparison, I prefer Szell's more flowing allure here; Scherchen's 52 makes him again very perceptibly the most urgent). What goes on during that Scene at the Brook is anybody's guess, but again there is much loving and tenderness in Leibowitz' reading - and it could be just the love of basking in the sun at the brook.

But at last a Merry Gathering that at least (no pun intended) comes near Beethoven's tempo - not the heavy (and even trudging with Furtwängler, Beethoven: Symphonies 6 & 8) romp that most make out of it (and that includes Walter, Szell, Reiner, and surprisingly even Scherchen, not ALWAYS such a radical litteralist) by adopting a tempo significantly slower than Beethoven's 108 dotted half-notes per minute. Leibowitz is at 103, and it really sounds M-E-R-R-Y. And glorious RPO soloists! Like Walter, he invests the central allegro with great energy. The striking thing in the ensuing storm scene is not so much Leibowitz' brisk tempo, as the terrifying violence he draws out of the orchestra. And what you hear from the double basses is not notes of music, but gushes of wind. His finale unfolds again at a flowing but unhurried tempo (similar to Walter's, and slightly under Beethoven's: Reiner is above, Scherchen is bang on) and develops a fine sense of exultation.

The same comments apply to Leibowitz' 8th. His outer movements are wonderfully ebullient and exuberant as they are - which, at circa 53-4 dotted half notes and 73 full notes per minute respectively, is significantly faster than your customary Furtwängler, Walter, Szell, Bernstein and even Leinsdorf (sorry no more authorized links), but still markedly slower than Beethoven's reckless 69 and 88; even Scherchen and Norrington can't break the sound barrier here and remain at 56-7/81-2 (even then, Scherchen's finale is simply irresistible). First movement repeat taken (but most do, here).

But how right Leibowitz is to take the ensuing Allegretto Scherzando exactly at Beethoven's brisk 88 eight-notes: this is no "slow" movement at that tempo, but a ticking march with an irresistible Rossini-like humor (some reports say it was in fact a hommage to Mälzel and his metronome). But for the "traditionalists" who would be tempted to take exception: this is also the tempo of Szell, Leinsdorf and Bernstein. At Beethoven's metronome pace again, the Tempo di Menuetto is not made into a stomping peasant dance as it is by Walter (and even a trudging one with Furtwängler), but remains lithe and boisterous, and the central trio acquires the good-naturedness of a serenade - one that could have been played at Don Giovanni's last supper.

Interpretation, of course, is not just a question of... Read more ›