Ludwig van Beethoven Osmo Vaumlnskauml Minnesota Orchestra - Beethoven Symphony Nos 3 8 (8 tracks) +Album Reviews

Is this radical new Beethoven? I don't hear it.

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 02/25/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The New York Times and various scattered critics have praised Osmo Vanska as a committed musical radical, an intense, take-no-prisoners conductor who demands that Beethoven be heard completely new and without compromise. I got excited. But is this recording what they were talking about? The playing on the whole is brisk, clipped, and lacking in tension. You'd think from the "light up the sky" reviews at Amazon that Vanska was providing visceral thrills--the Eroica is the perfect vehicle for that. In reality he is precise but cautious, and he limits Beethoven to a narrow emotional scope. The funeral march is timid the scherzo tepid except for a moment or two of sudden climax. The Eighth is more bigorous and gets a performance that generates a modicum of excitement.

I can only scratch my head. Either a lot of people haven't heard enough great Beethoven or the classical music business is so desperate for something, anything, new that Vanska and his good but hardly great Minnesota Orch. were the right people at the right time. I suspect the latter."

Very Refreshing

MasterG | Minneapolis, MN | 05/29/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Anyone criticizing this recording because it doesn't have the fire or intensity of a Karajan or Furtwangler or whatever conductor is missing the point. Osmo Vanska was initially reluctant to put out a Beethoven cycle precisely because there were already so many great recordings out there and those recordings pretty much said it all. He only agreed to do his own Beethoven because he felt he could bring a fresh perspective to it. In that regard, he is highly successful, and the praise these recordings have earned is well-deserved.

The sound Vanska favors here is much leaner and technically clean than many other performances, and the dynamics seem to leap out at you when you least expect it. The musicality of these performances is helped immensely by a total commitment by the musicians of the excellent Minnesota Orchestra. The intensity in these recordings comes from within the sound rather from everyone just playing with a lush and romantic tone.

That being said, however, I have to admit I do miss some of the sonic weight and drive of other performances. Perhaps it has something to do with the recording - the winds usually sound kind of muted to me, which is not very characteristic of Orchestra Hall in which all the sections of the orchestra come through loud and clear.

In any case, if you're just looking for another version of these symphonies that sounds like everything else you're used to then you might as well not bother with this. But a more thoughtful and committed performance you'll not find."

High Performance Machine

Christopher OBrien | Chicago, IL United States | 08/14/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This orchestra as lead by one Osmo Vanska is upon first impressions on mean, lean fighting machine that performs this music much like a Ferrari would handle the road...with the utmost grace, flair and precision to be found anywhere. Technically, these folks nailed it; however there is a degree of warmth that I find myself longing for and can be found in the cycles of Blomstedt or Barenboim. I found those cycles to be transcendent and almost spiritual affairs if such a comment can be said about these proceedings. I put on the Barenboim, Blomstedt and now my Vanska in quick succession to compare and I found myself moved to a greater degree by the Barenboim and Blomstedt readings. That being said, and yes I do find these readings to be emotionally on the cool side, and a little too much for my tastes, these performances are incredibly exciting and will thrill the listener. I am sure that seeing these performances live under Vanska's baton must have been intense and exhilarating. I would like to have taken adrenaline levels immediately following the performance. But I do need my Beethoven to possess deeper undercurrents that are subliminal in their presence and are hinted at through the overall shape of the sound. Meaning that all the details are there with these performances but the shake your soul to the core experience is not. If you do have an SACD player, as do I, and you have some extra-money to burn then take a look at these readings because they are impressive, and the sound is absolutely superb. Just listen to the low strings in the mix. Incredible. Otherwise I would recommend dropping the money on Barenboim's complete cycle, which is absolutely, knock it out of the park, stunning."

Wonderful

Prescott Cunningham Moore | 08/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have only one criticism of this otherwise fine Eroica. Vanska's attention to balance and texture in the first movement of the Eroica robs the dissonant pile-up and the final climax of the power they inevitably are capable of delivering. Otherwise, this performance of the Third has everything for which even the most jaded Beethovenian could ask. The first movement, taken neither quickly nor slowly, simply overflows with energy. Vanska unearths interesting orchestral details while maintaining a razor-sharp control over the sonata structure, delivering a movement that is both musically and architecturally satisfying in the highest degree. And even where Vanska's hand keeps the fabulous playing of the Minnesota orchestra in check, the intensity of the music making well makes up for a somewhat limiting dynamic ceiling at the aforementioned first movement climaxes. The funeral march, on the other hand, is perfect. The major episodes sound appropriately big but never too joyous while the minor episodes are gripping, not simply because the music sounds grim, but because it is still noble - it is a funeral march after all. The scherzo is radiant. I can think of few trios that manage bravura without becoming vulgar. The cut-time declamation upon the return of the scherzo proper is both comic and imposing, while the coda is dazzling. The finale, so often treated as the inferior of the previous movements, has all the ingredients for a successful performance: sensational playing coupled with a clear sense of the movements overarching structural genius. At the entrance of the slow variation, the oboe playing is as gentle as anyone could ask, while the following "triplet" variation is noble but played with enough restraint to prevent the movement from climaxing to early. The coda is as energized as Szell's, even if taken at a more moderate tempo, brining the symphony to a glowing close.

The first movement of the Eighth is also taken at a flowing, but by no means rapid, allegro, but Vanska is able to generate a great deal of excitement due to crisp articulation, a keen sense of phrasing, and some wonderfully full-bodied lower strings. The development is sensational, with an overwhelming building up to the climatic recapitulation. If Vanska fails to achieve the same level of eruptive force Paavo Jarvi achieves in his hyperkinetic Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie recording, Vanska's more moderate tempo allows the movement to take on added weight. The second movement is charming, as it should be, but crisp playing of the Minnesota strings gives the music a bit of a needed edged. The trio of the minuet is charming, enhanced greatly by Vanska's heavily accented base line. In the minuet proper, at bit more pop and circumstance would have highlighted the comic vulgarity of Beethoven's joke (I am thinking of Szell's wonderfully punchy brass) but the overall effect of Vanska's interpretation favors charm over humor. Like in his stunning recording of the Seventh, Vanksa shows how at even a moderate tempo a finale can still have a great deal of power and energy. The tutti outbursts of the main theme are cosmic, while the central section is explosive. Vanska fairs better here at drawing out the humor of this music; just listen to Vanska's handling of the loopy coda.

In toto, however, it is Vanska's sense of architecture and his thorough understanding not only of sonata form, but also of Beethoven's intentions within that form. Both the Eroica and the Eighth are magnificently shaped. Vanska builds a huge amount of tension leading up to climazes, but his ability to continue that tension through the restatement is astounding. It is beyond describable, the sensation and excitement one has when hearing this music played in such a way. Simply fantastic, revelatory, and magical. Any fan of Beethoven will be immensely pleased."

Overpriced and Overrated

Scott E. Peterman | Oneida, NY USA | 08/07/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is the only disc that I own in this cycle, and I shall not be purchasing any of the others. While these performances are good and well recorded, they simply do not approach, let alone surpass, the performance of these symphonies by Paavo Järvi conducting the Bremen German Chamber Philharmonic. If you think Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra are something special, wait until you hear Järvi and his Germans. Järvi is better recorded, better performed, and cheaper."

Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Osmo Vänskä, Minnesota Orchestra :: Beethoven: Symphony Nos. 3 & 8 [Hybrid SACD]

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