Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Weingartner, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra :: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 7; Egmont

Superb Performances and Sound!

Ralph J. Steinberg | New York, NY United States | 09/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These performances are so well known that I need not waste any time reviewing them. The big news is the sound on this Opus Kura transfer, full and wide-range in a way that no other previous issue, CD or LP, has accomplished. Part of the sonic superiority is undoubtedly the use of European and/or Japanese 78 originals. I also suspect that a different take of the Seventh's First Movement Introduction was used, a somewhat broader rendtion than the one commercially used in all previous issues. Not only is the sound richer and more extended on both sides of the sonic spectrum, but so is the overall dynamic range. The Finale of the Seventh Symphony displays a fierce dynamism not previously heard in previous issues, including the excellent Naxos transfer of recent vintage. Truthfully, I find myself preferring the natural and simple sonics of an old recording like this to the overly brilliant and sometimes unmusical sounds of many recent recordings. There continues to be a lot of life in those old 78 rpm recordings, and Opus Kura has done full justice to these ones. In fact, Opus Kura now seems like it is the definitive historic classical label.

I will say one thing about Weingartner's Seventh: It is incomparably finer than Toscanini's with the NYPO from the same year. Weingartner allows the music time to breathe, varies the tempo appropriately, and does not fall into the Italian's habit of taking the Vivace so fast that it loses its triple rhythm and sounds as though it were in duple meter."

Superb Seventh and BEST First I've ever heard

John Grabowski | USA | 03/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Beethoven symphonies set as performed by Felix Weingartner and the Vienna Philharmonic is simply superb, and this is another great release. These Japanese remasterings are far superior to the cheaper Naxos counterparts, and the interested listener should make every effort to find them. Furthermore, the Naxos set (so far at least) does not include a performance of the First symphony. And that is a pity, because this is the finest First I've ever heard. I once read a review of Beethoven symphonies with the pronouncement that no CD is worth getting for the performance of the First alone, that one should get the disc for whatever other music is on it. I used to agree with that, until I heard this performance. Now I'd say get this disc even if the accompanying work were a dud. But fortunately, it's not; it's a thrilling performance of the Seventh symphony.



But first the First. Although Beethoven's debt to Haydn early in his career is no secret, most conductors make Beethoven's First symphony sound more Mozartish. This is the first "Haydnesque" approach I've ever heard to this work, natural and logical as it sounds. After a warm, sweet introduction that has Papa Haydn written all over it, Weingartner gives us quick tempi, a crisp execution, snap, crackle, and that Haydn charm and wit. Then comes the unsurpassable second movement, with more warmth, gentle humor and line than I've ever heard before, convincing me, once and for all, that in the right hands, this is a really GREAT Beethoven movement, not just young, undeveloped future-genius. After hearing it this way, I wondered how so many other conductors could be so *wrong.* While not incorporating what we today would call appropriate stylistic or period performance practices, the VPO under FW's baton nonetheless manage to sound more "classical" than modern HIP groups--i.e., today's groups get the scholarship but not the point of the music; he lacks the scholarship but illustrates the point. It's a must-hear recording, no matter how many other Firsts you have, or even if you think this work isn't all that interesting except as the beginning to more interesting things (which, I admit, I thought before today).



But there's more, as they say. The Seventh symphony is another fine performance. It won't displace Furtwangler in the historical category, but it holds its own against Toscanini's 1936 performance and blows the 1950s one out of the water. The flute playing in the Intro to the first movement is truly gorgeous, the pacing is just right, and interestingly the famous Allegretto has a very strong march-quality even though the tempo is on the slowish side. (Contrast Furtwangler November 1942 performance, where the concept of Allegretto seems farthest from the conductor's mind!) Weingartner achieves this with a crisp, dot-dot-dot quality to the main theme, or at least more crisp than most conductors of the period. I would have liked more energy and in the trio section of the scherzo, I must admit, but on the other hand Weingartner really finds the melodic line and turns in a joyous, pastorale-like reading. The finale is a wonderful volcano of activity, one that threatens to get away from the orchestra. (These symphonies, so easily--glibly?--dashed off today, really tested the virtuosity of musicians in the early part of the 20th century.) But also listen to the wonderful way the violins shade down in the quiet, repeated descending figures just before the volcanic explosions. There's real sensitivity there where to many conductors today this is just passagework. Weingartner always has a long-range view of what he's conducting; I feel he knows the peaks and valleys intimately and always knows where he is in them and how to navigate them. Every section has its character and its reason for being the way it is. Nothing is merely filler till we get to a "bigger" moment.



The disc also features Beeethoven's brooding "Egmont" Overture, here given a very dramatic reading with deep bass notes and a grave quality that make it simply riveting. The Naxos set goes one better by including two other rarely-heard movements from Egmont. I wish these other movements had also been included on this CD. Still, on the balance this is the one to get--for a very fine Seventh, a thrilling Egmont (surpassed only by Koussevitzky) and a properly Haydn-style First that communicates to me for the first time that here was a conductor who knew what to make of this symphony instead of just looking to it as something to get past on their way to Bigger, Bolder Beethoven. All the Weingartner symphonies that have been rereleased so far have been a treasure and indespensible. These musicians are living the music; today's groups have far more technical prowess and familiarity with Beethoven, but that may be their downfall--the feeling of self-discovery is missing. Get these Weingartner recordings, all of them, before they disappear from the catalog!"