Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Symphony No. 4; Symphony No. 7 [Hybrid SACD]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Superb performances that bring out all the power, grandure, and rhythmic intensity of two great Beethoven symphonies. This RCA CD, along with the previous CD of symphonies 3 and 8, are just fantastic and have rekindled my interest in the Beethoven symphony cycle. Note that these same forces joined with Japanese pianist Ikuyo Nakishima for fine performances of concertos 3 and 5 on Japanese RCA (try Japan CD or HMV Japan for purchase). I should also mention that the sound on all these CDs is fabulous.

Living in Cincinnati, I have been fortunate enough to see Mr. Jarvi conduct quite a few times with the CSO. I've come away for the most part heartily impressed and occasionally a little disappointed. Such it is with artists and live performance. His strengths, I've learned, generally tend to lie in the realm of "newer" music (i.e. Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Part, Lutoslawski, etc.) than that of the romantic warhorses. However, it is also important to note that he has had huge periodic successes with some of the biggest pieces in the romantic repertoire- and for this reason must be seen as one of the more dynamic and capable conductors around today.

I am enormously pleased to say that Mr. Jarvi has proven to me more than once in recent memory (his Beethoven 9th and violin concerto live in concert both come to mind) that his Beethoven is among the best there is to be had anywhere. This Beethoven cycle by Mr. Jarvi and the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen is (so far) stunningly well executed. This group is having a tremendous amount of fun, and every bit of it is coming across. The dynamics are as near to perfect as I've ever heard in Beethoven, and the recording quality bears this out. Both this disc as well as the prior release of the 3rd and 8th can be characterized by that moment when you pop the CD in, and within a couple minutes you're smiling and turning it up. It has rekindled my interest in the Beethoven symphony cycle, and I look forward to the upcoming releases.

WOW, I have to say I am beyond impressed with this SACD. I hate to admit that I have sort of become disenchanted with Paavo Jarvi in the past year or two with the sometimes killer/sometimes dull recordings he has done with Cincinnati for Telarc. However, right from the start this recording grabbed me by the ears and never let go. Sheer excitement, passion, intensity...it is all there...in droves. Very impressive and best of all, the band from Bremen sounds like they are having quite a bit of fun!!

The sound also blew me away, and I quickly learned why when I saw that the fabulous gang from Polyhymnia (think Pentatone and Caro Mitis) was the team in the control room...way to go guys!!!

Heartily recommended!!

I'm one of those people who used to believe that, to be performed properly, the symphonies of Beethoven require a full symphony orchestra. I recently purchased this CD and found that I had to alter that view.

In the booklet insert of this disc, a review by Christophe Huss is quoted, and I cannot express my view of these performances any better than he. Huss states:

"It was probably inevitable that some day a `true master' would transform the eloquence of the Baroque specialists into music. Paavo Jarvi is the master in that respect, because his Beethoven is not rhythmic in a simplistic way or aggressive. He enjoys shaping the music, particularly with precise crescendos, distinct accents, and tiny but always consistent pianissimos. His Beethoven is uncompromising, terse, trenchant, and, above all, clear. He does not let himself be made a fool of by some tradition or other and does not become slower when the music is soft. There is a tremendous excitement with him, even in the smallest nuances. ...a Beethoven who is an heir to the Enlightenment. It is astounding, clear, convincing. I have never heard it like this."

These are as close to definitive performances of these symphonies as you can get. They demand to be listened to, and the more you listen to them, the more you enjoy them. The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and Paavo Jarvi have set the bar to a new height. They are outstanding in every way, and if you don't have multi-channel SACD equipment, do yourself a favor and get some so you can hear these historic recordings in all their grandeur.

Given the almost unanimous acclaim for this series by Amazon reviewers I am going way out on a limb to start criticizing them now. I waited a long time before committing to this cycle and have only recently purchased 5-1, 4-7, 6-2. I am sorry to have done so. I found these performances infuriating. The constant punching and pulling of almost every measure very quickly began to bore me and made me seriously wonder why I could not have the pleasure in them that almost everyone else finds. I could not stop myself from thinking of "sewing-machine" Bach. There is no glory and grandeur here, only a cold mechanistic pattern that quickly begins to aggravate. Perhaps I am just the stodgy person someone else refers to, but there is no way this cycle can replace any of the many other complete sets that I consider superior. Please see my respone to DHJ of his review of the disc containing 3-8.

This is such an exciting time for Beethoven. Since the publication of the new Barenreiter editions, edited by Jonathan Del Mar, we've seen cycles from the likes of Claudio Abbado (twice), Bernard Haitink, Simon Rattle, David Zinman, and Jos van Immerseel. But the most stellar cycle came from a rather unexpected source; Osmo Vanska with the Minnesota Orchestra for the Swedish label BIS. Vanska's now-complete cycle has received raved reviews, and rightfully so. Vanska and his band have proved that "big band" Beethoven is still viable in the wake of the Period Movement and when Historically Informed Performance practices are en vogue. So it is into this glutted market that Paavo Jarvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen launch their cycle, beginning with the standard paring of the Eroica and the Eighth. So the question to be asked and answered is whether Jarvi has produced performances that can stand up to the competition?

The answer is a resounding, enthusiastic yes. This is, bar none, exceptional top-tier Beethoven. Right from the opening chord of the Fourth, you know these performances are going to be winners. First, and foremost, Jarvi brings an idiomatic and individualist interpretation that highlights interesting aspects of the score while maintaining a strong sense of architecture and form. Add to this brisk, but never rushed, tempos that imbue the music with a new sense of urgency. Finally, add to this winning mix one of the greatest chamber orchestras at work today, stereophonically placed violins, hard mallets for the timpani, pert woodwinds, and big-bodied brass, you have Beethoven for the ages.

This is a spectacular Fouth, one of the most thoroughly logical interpretations to come about in a long time. The slow introduction showcases the precision of Jarvi's Bremen players, to say nothing of the multiplicity of colors elicited from the Kammerphilharmonie. But Jarvi work from the podium is really special. Listen to how the two chords before the allegro proper actually sound appropriately connected to the introduction. Jarvi's work in the exposition is simply stunning. In the large tutti outburst before the second subject, where the violins are building on the main theme, Jarvi has the brass, winds, timpani, and lower strings really proclaim their rhythmic punctuations. Of course, this adds a great deal of tension, but it also shows Jarvi's understanding of Beethoven's writing and his ability to realize the composer's intentions in new and provocative ways. The development is equally fine, complete with a full-bodied, but never grotesque, dissonant pile-up, and a wonderfully fun transition into the recapitulation. The recapitulation is equally exciting because Jarvi revels in the changes in orchestration, allowing the music to take on a wholly new and more visceral quality.

The two middle movements are lovely and energetic respectively. The adagio is a joy due to Jarvi's crisp rhythms and brisk, but never rushed, tempo, aided by the atmospheric playing of the orchestra. What a shock the bumptious scherzo (in everything by name) is then, taken at a reasonable clip, tripping along self-consciously. The various syncopations and rhythmic shifts are emphasized with a stunning degree of success, while Jarvi shapes the music (both here and in the trio) effectively. Listen to how the final bars of the trio are more effective when the orchestra is not playing at one huge dynamic throughout.

The finale is equally fine, due to Jarvi's basic musicality. Jarvi allows the orchestra to play out in their dissonant outbursts, but never at the expense of textual clarity. As such, the first violins register with acute clarity. In the coda, Jarvi pulls the orchestra back right before the slow music in order to unearth the long-buried bass line. These seem like basic and obvious interpretive choices, but Jarvi is one of the few conductors to have such idiomatic, but musically appropriate, ideas in this music.

Or course, the playing of the Bremen Kammerphilharmoic cannot be more highly praised. Just listen to the fabulous horns in the slow introduction, creating some really deep and satisfying pedal tones. The clarinet work throughout is excellent and the brass is always exciting. And the string work is perfect. The Fourth, probably more so than any other Beethoven symphony, really benefits from stereophonically placed violins. And here, all the interchanges and exchanges between the violins are captured with refreshing clarity, chocked full of good humor.

The Seventh is hardly less fine, if only because Jarvi makes one interpretive decision which, while well reasoned, robs the music of some of its intrinsic vigor. In the allegro, Jarvi purposefully keeps the high horns in check. This does prevent the music from sounding like a concerto for horns and strings (as it often can, and does, sound with in other performances) but one cannot help but miss their whooping declamations. The middle movements, however, are fabulous. I absolutely love that Jarvi has the second movement, here taken at a real allegretto, flow right out of the first. This makes sense, not only because the movements compliment each other so perfectly, but also because Beethoven ends the first movement in such a way as to expect another chord. Thus, the sudden minor interjection is especially thrilling. Playing-wise, the ensemble work is stunning and Jarvi shapes the music with embarrassing effectiveness. The presto is good fun as well, Jarvi handling the always-problematic trio well, rightfully emphasizing, rather than covering-up (cue nearly every other conductor) the somewhat awkward syncopated rhythms before the huge tutti outbursts.

Sevenths can be made or broken by their finales, and here Jarvi really just delivers a winner. It is just all energy and you realize that this music is simply too cosmic, too powerful to be played by any orchestra effectively. The orchestra always seems on the edge of just exploding, which in this music is high praise. The antiphonal violins add textual clarity, especially when the Beethoven sends the second violins to the races with their swirling figures. A touch more horn would be nice, especially in the coda, but the music builds to such a satisfying and frightening close, that you would hardly notice otherwise.

Jarvi's Beethoven has all the ensemble precision of Szell or Vanska and the excitement of Wand or Toscanini. If to some listeners his approach sounds vulgar or "too big," most will appreciate that Jarvi's approach - small players, stereophonically placed violins, hard mallets for the timpani, and quick tempos - are exactly what Beethoven's music requires. I once heard a critic remark that Beethoven's music was "too big" for his orchestrations, that the bigness of the Eroica or the Fifth cannot be matched by any orchestra. I am reminded of that when listening to Jarvi's Beethoven. His energy, his passion, not to mention his innate musicality, create performances that sound ready to burst at the seems with untamed musical fervor. I just love this cycle, a love that has not dimmed since the opening chords of his brilliant Eroica. Bravo.

Frankly, I had been avoiding Pavo Jarvi's new Beethoven cycle. Having acquired Haitink in SACD and the ongoing BIS SACD cycle with Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra, I questioned just how much I needed more Beethoven symphonies in SACD in addition to the numerous older recordings on my shelves. I was also quite disappointed in the conductor's recent coupling of the Tchaikovksy Pathetique and Romeo and Juliet on Telarc - two pallid and emotionally inhibited performances that are simply not to my taste at all. It was a comment posted on my remarks about the recent Vanska coupling of Nos. 1 and 6 that convinced me to give Jarvi a try.

I've listened to both the Jarvi and Vanska performances of the Fourth for comparison. Both are excellent. Robert Schumann referred to the symphony as "a slender Greek maiden". Jarvi's vision is more Dionysian while that of Vanska is more Apollonian. Take for example, the introduction to the first movement. Vanska creates a mysterious atmosphere with a blended sonority and pianissimos on the verge of inaudability. Jarvi is more tragicomic/mock heroic with a prominent bassoon and more pungent accents. The interpretive stance carries over into the body of the movement and the rest of the symphony as well for both conductors - Jarvi more straightforward and punchy (the term high jinks kept coming to mind) and Vanska more restrained. Both approaches are valid, but I must say that Beethoven's earthy humor is more evident with Jarvi. The bassoon flourishes add to the fun. It recalls Haydn's wrecking decorum in Symphony No. 93 with the bassoon raspberry.

Some of the differences may be attributed to the difference in the forces employed. Vanska's Beethoven is more traditionally "big band" while Jarvi employs an excellent chamber ensemble to very good effect. Jarvi's string players limit the use of vibrato, achieving some interesting color in the process. The recorded sound is excellent and well matched to the performances in both cases. BIS gives us a big hall sound while Sony/BMG is more in your face.

For the Fourth, I can't decide which of these excellent performances I prefer. They both make me want to listen repeatedly - no minor feat in music as familiar as this.

Jarvi's disc includes a rollicking performance of the wonderful Seventh Symphony. The chamber forces display their mettle in the complex rhythms of the score. This is a wonderful, fleet-footed performance. The limited vibrato in the strings makes for some interesting, wiry effects in the introduction. Woodwinds and brass are nicely balanced. The growling basses near the end of the first movement are nicely prominent.

The Allegretto "funeral march" follows after the briefest of pauses, a very interesting interpretive choice. Tempo choice in this enigmatic movement strikes me as just right - neither ponderous or rushed. The Scherzo is ebullient and the Presto finale is both whirlwind in tempo and well articulated.

Time will tell whether Jarvi (and Vanska) join the select group of gold standard cycles that stretch back to the early years of sound recording. In any event, I'll be acquiring Jarvi as well as completing the Vanska with the anticipated coupling of Nos. 2 and 7. They are both very, very good, though different, and well recorded.

Note: This disc is a hybrid CD/SACD, and I listened only to the CD layer. So, I cannot say how it might sound from the SACD layer.

The performance here seems fine to me (quite nicely nuanced, in fact). My complaint is with the sound-quality of the recording. The sound is congealed, not liquid or flowing--nothing like it should sound. The sound is thick and rather opaque; it's as if the notes are stuck in molasses. The tone colors are muted, and the whole effect of the sound (the tones and timbre) is flat rather than rounded.

The result is that I have no desire to ever hear this CD again. I certainly wish I had not spent good money on it.

When a record company goes to the considerable trouble of recording a symphony (or anything else, for that matter), they ought to take appropriate care to ensure that the finished product sounds right.

I heard these same forces this year during the opening week of Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. From the first chords of the Eroica this orchestra and Jaarvi blew me away! Of course the NY critics gave them very reserved reviews - although they did like them. The audiences went wild. I have heard most of the recordings of the Beethoven Symphonies and living here in NY I have heard some wonderful ones. But the dynamics of Jaarvi and this superb orchestra are breathtaking. Fleet tempos, wonderful brass and woodwind playing and incredible, involved string playing make these recordings a must. If you cannot buy them all, be sure and get 3,4 and 7. And the sound is superb.

I'm writing this same review for the first four discs in this B9 collection by Jarvi (Symphonies one through eight). I have other comments for the nineth.

These performances are as breathtaking and beautiful as I can imagine. The clarity, the discipline, the passion are unmatched. As for the quality of the recordings, if you have good equipment, it literally puts you in the best seat in the house. The crispness, the balance, the dynamic range are all as good as it gets. There are instruments played that I actually never heard before in any other recording of "the nine". No Beethoven lover should be without these recordings!