Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 "Choral"

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Bruno Walter Beethoven Ninth is not, to my ears, lacking in drama (as some of the other reviewers here feel). It's not a falsely revved-up drama; rather, it's one that grows out of the great detail that Walter gets from the Columbia Symphony so that at every moment some event seems to be happening.

I feel the drama right from the opening notes, which have great urgency, but which seem to be more about some personal tragedy than about the cosmos. Walter seems to view the work as a personal drama rather than a cosmic one.

After that powerful opening, Walter is soon shaping phrases and tempo in a most romantic, expressive way in accord with his vision of the internal drama. Walter makes the first movement a series of unpredictable events. It's the most compelling performance of this movement I've ever heard. Perhaps it's the variations in tempo that put off some people, they may hear a lack of energy or momentum. I hear intense concentration on the moment-by-moment drama. Walter's vision keeps me listening intently.

The scherzo is not savage or demonic, but rather conveys the sense that the hero, the main character of the symphony, is trying to rouse himself out of his depression and angst so that he can get stuff accomplished, while sometimes (during the trio) making fun of himself for getting carried away with his own energy and going too far. Should he try to enjoy things rather than being either depressed or intensely energetic? (I know this sounds silly, but this performance makes me think about the symphony in a way that I usually don't think about orchestral music. Maybe it's a silly way, but I don't care.)

No other performance I've heard conveys such a feeling of peace and grace in the third movement. It's mesmerizing. In phrasing, in balances, in slight tempo adjustments, Walter makes this movement cohere as few other conductors do. My concentration goes in and out during this movement in most recordings, but Walter and the Columbia Symphony keep me riveted.

As with so much in this performance, the dissonance at the beginning of the last movement seems not cosmic, but personal, internal. I can't explain why, but it does. When the orchestra starts playing the melody of the "Ode to Joy," it's as if the person whose journey is described in the symphony is trying to calm himself, to again connect with the joy and beauty in the world. When the dissonance returns, the only way he can respond is with words directly to the orchestra.

The nobility, tenderness, and caring quality of William Wildermann's opening solo sets the tone for the rest. This is conciliatory joy, less exultant, less wild than in some performances. I find it deeply communicative, a true plea for peace in the world.

The tenor solo does not sound militant or marchlike ("let's take a hike in the country in our lederhosen!"), as it does in many recordings, but seems like a deeply felt call to running your personal race in alignment with the universe, not against it.

The vocal soloists are not the starriest names but all sing superbly. The Westminster Choir sings with utter commitment, if not the most idiomatic German. Most of all, you feel that every participant in this performance was in tune with Walter's vision, all felt that something special was happening.

Energy does seem to flag a bit, to lack the necessary tension, during parts of the slow choral section starting with "Seid umschlungen, Millionen," but only during parts of it. Maybe Walter knew what he was doing even here, because the fast peroration that brings the symphony to its end feels more like a true climax than in many performances, though when it starts you might think it's a little too low-key. But Walter gives it a build so that it really comes to a climax on the final notes, something I don't feel in most recordings I've heard.

If you want a Ninth with a lot of external drama, this may not be for you. This is a more introspective Ninth. I'm not sure if I would have thought that was such a good idea before hearing this performance, but Walter makes it work beautifully. Listening to this performance, I feel as if Bruno Walter is still communicating to us from his own wealth of experience of life and music. I hear this famous symphony in a whole new way thanks to this recording.

When this stereo Beethoven Ninth was released in 1959, it replaced a much more vigorous version in mono from just a few years before with the New York Phil. and considerably better vocal soloists in the finale. You can still find historical versions of that prevoius performance (on Music & Arts, for example), as well as a live Ninth from the same era. But for official purposes this is the one that Sony has chosen to represent Walter's legacy.

It's a looser, less ocncentrated reading than his older ones. Walter lost considerable energy, particularly as a Beethoven conductor, in his autumnal period. It took seven recording sessions to finish the Ninth, five in Hollywood and two in New York for the last movement (the ad hoc Columbia Sym. in New York is entirely different from the L.A. band).

There's no doubt that Walter has authority in the Ninth, his favorite Beethoven symphony, which he first conducted at 22 in 1898 -- think of it, barely seventy years after the composer's death. Yet from the outset critics have doubted this performance, which is almost genial in its relaxed approach. But if you already enjoy Walter's late style, it is certainly present here. The orchestral forces sound a bit thin; the recording is quite good, however, as are the soloists and chorus in the finale. In truth the conducting is no more slack than in Walter's Eroica or Fifth Sym. from his Hollywood years. It's just that the Ninth requires as much concentration as anyone can bring to it, and the older Bruno Walter didn't have it to give anymore.

This is the only one of Bruno Walter's Columbia Symphony Orchestra Beethoven cycle I didn't like. I am referring to the 1990 CBS release, from the complete cycle. Movement I has some bad moments (cracked notes!) in the trumpets right before the final statement of the main theme/motif. II sounds sluggish, and as though orchestra and conductor aren't quite unanimous. IV suffers from the chorus too far back/off mike, slowish tempos, and vocal soloists off mike: not quite loud enough in balance with the orchestra and choir. Perhaps some of the balance problems are better in the "Bruno Walter Edition" re-release, but the tempo problems would be the same.

One critic described Walter's Columbia Symphony Beethoven 9th as "nearly a total disaster", and that's not a bad description given the excellent quality of the rest of his Columbia Beethovens: 3,4,5,6, and 7 are among the best ever, and 1,2,and 8 are close behind. The sound quality in Symphonies 1-8 is uniformly excellent, better than in 9.

Preferable, in my experience, for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony:Szell (Odyssey or Sony); Bohm/Vienna Philharmonic (1970, DG, coupled with Bohm's EROICA, and some Beethoven Overtures); Furtwangler/Philharmonia (Lucerne, 1954: Tahra label); Reiner/Chicago (RCA); Munch/Boston (EMI "Great Conductors of the 20th Century" - drawn from the 1958 RCA recording).

PS. September 2, 2005. I listened again to Walter's Beethoven Ninth Symphony, and now think my above review is too critical. I stand by the criticisms mentioned about IV: the soloists and chorus are off mike, Allegro parts need more drive. There is some untidy ensemble in IV, which detracts from the music. Walter is more affectionate than many conductors in this music, and there are some great moments in I, II and III. I guess I should say "recommended to Bruno Walter fans" or "proceed with caution."

This performance is the one of Bruno Walter Editions. There're few that have experience of Columbia Symphony Orchestra(CSO)'s sound. So, even most of Classic mania do not know CSO's elegant, dramatic and powerful sound! This performance was recorded in 1959, but was separated to record; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd movements were recorded in American Legion Hall, Hollywood, and 4th movement was recorded in New York. It means this performance is not live recording, and is not vivid one. But, this performance has some very important merits. The CSO's strings made the best harmonious sound. and also powerful one! You can listen the bold string lines in 3rd and 4th movement, (it's a dramamatic one!) Walter doesn't haste, never! This can make this 9th symphony delicate one. The most important thing of this performance is the easy! Beethoven's 9th symphony is the favorite one of all symphonies popularly. But,frankly speaking, Beethoven's 9th symphony has very complicated and difficult structure. For exmamples, to undertand 2nd movement completely , We should know characteristics of all instruments. To understand 4th movement, We should know even 'art of fugue'. But, these all are very difficult for us! This Walter's performance is so easy that you can understand 9th symphony's structure very well. You can listen each instrument's sound in 2nd movemnet. You will take the art of fugue in 4th move with Walter! Except some enervated soloist, you'll satisfied with this one.

I like the earthy quality of playing on this CD. Beethoven is naturally heavy in his orchestrations, so the more vigorous the performance, the better. There is something appealing about how Walter attacks the louder, faster passages in the first two movements. I was ultimately disappointed in the second movement, however, with the less-than distinct tympani. The sudden attack needs to be sharp and clear.

But what ultimately kills the recording is the entrance of the baritone soloist in the finale. I couldn't get over the rapid-fire vibrato, reminiscent of the Mayor of Munchkinland. I considered this the point of no return, and sadly had to bypass this recording altogether.