The Beethoven symphonies conducted by Osmo Vänskä... with special guest star Klaus Tennstedt!

*Helena Juntunen, Katarina Karneus, Daniel Norman, Neal Davies; *Minnesota Chorale; Minnesota Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä
BIS SACD 1716, 1817, 1516, 1416, *1616 | Stereo DDD (SACD)

Esther Hinds, Janis Hardy, Dennis Bailey, Samuel Ramey; University of Minnesota Symphonic Chorus; Minnesota Orchestra/Klaus Tennstedt
Memories Excellence ME1045 | Stereo ADD

Beethoven is back? I didn't realize he had ever been away. If he did leave us, the classical record industry certainly never got the message. Some things, like classical labels churning out Beethoven symphony cycles without regard to need or quality, will never change. Do we really need yet another Beethoven symphony cycle? Wouldn't it be a greater service to record music by little known, but great composers like Gavriil Popov, Silvestre Revueltas, Hans Rott, Nikolai Karetnikov, Saburo Moroi, etc.? But the publication of the Bärenreiter edition of these works earlier this decade, which corrects the old "corrupt" Breitkopf und Härtel editions, have given labels and conductors yet another excuse to record these far too oft performed works. Unlike the editions of Bruckner's works by Robert Haas and Leopold Nowak, for example, which revealed to the world that the Bruckner we had known until then had been grossly distorted, these Bärenreiter editions are notable only in a few minor textual emendations. This isn't to put down the hard work of Johnathan Del Mar, the editor of the Bärenreiter Beethoven. But most listeners will not notice these changes unless they have their Breitkopf and Bärenreiter scores handy for some comparative listening.

Contrary to the wild acclaim this cycle has garnered, Vänskä's approach, while solid, won't be making Karajan, Furtwängler, Klemperer, Monteux, the Kleibers and so on shake in their boots. Some people will claim to hear the "real" Beethoven here; a fresh approach they'll claim. At best, there is a punchiness that can work in some these symphonies' favor. However, one also hears a willful fussiness and choppiness; a neglect of legato and of the singing line. There is much in here that sounds episodic. But there are some good things to be found here too. I've rated Vänskä's approach to each symphony below.

1. Good. Vänskä's punchy approach works well here. The slow movement is a little too cold for me; the minuet too buttoned down. The finale is let down by surprisingly soggy sounding timpani.
2. Another good performance, slightly marred by a rather chaste Larghetto.
3. Stiff and inflexible first movement. Good Marcia funebre although the climax goes for little here. Nice scherzo. Very balletic swing to the finale. Impressive dynamic extremes.
4. OK, though I wish there was a stronger feel for the lyricism in this music.
5. Wooden and bloodless. Carlos Kleiber has nothing to fear.
   
6. Excellent; a high point of this cycle. Superbly paced first movement. Serene Scene by the brook. Beautiful bird calls. Very raucous peasants in the country dance. You can almost see the dust being kicked in the air by their hearty dance. The storm is very impressive and the finale is songful and warm, but strong. One of the best recordings I've heard in awhile.
7. Another excellent recording. Powerful horns at the first movement's coda. Well paced Allegretto. The Scherzo and Finale are very thrilling.
8. Boring. Beethoven's wild modulations pass by with no notice or care. The sense of danger in this music is missing. Vänskä can take cold comfort in knowing that this music eluded even many of the very great conductors.
   
9. Tempi are similar to the live 1957 Klemperer, but without Klemperer's sense of architectural unity and control. Phrasing is too choppy; lines seem like they are being spat out or sniped at. The third movement drags--and it's actually taken at a fairly fast clip. Finale is good; excellent choir and soloists.

I should note that the orchestra sounds too thin for my tastes here, especially in the later symphonies, but play very well. On the whole, I find this set to be serviceable, but bland at times. If you like the modern instruments with a period sensibility approach, the LSO Haitink and Vienna Rattle are very satisfying. I'm happy to hear American orchestras cranking out new records, but I wish they would apply their efforts to music that hasn't been played to death.

Now let's stay in Minneapolis, but go back in time to 1982 when this live recording of Klaus Tennstedt at the helm of the Minnesota Orchestra conducting a blazing Ninth Symphony was captured.

Tennstedt's is a hearty, muscular performance that infuses the music with a direction and purpose sometimes missing from the Vänskä set. On the whole, Tennstedt's tempi are slower than Vänskä's in the Ninth, but everything surges ahead smartly. The first movement and scherzo pulse forth with vigor. The Adagio cantabile has all the singing warmth that was missing in the BIS, and the trumpets peal out grandly at the climax. The last movement begins attaca with a terrifying din. Samuel Ramey's elegant bass-baritone is marvelous. The other soloists are good, though not on Ramey's level, with the tenor sounding as if he's singing with a wad of tube socks stuffed in his mouth. The choir is excellent, but their German diction leaves something to be desired.

In a Minnesota Orchestra boxed set, one can find a performance of the 'Pastoral' with Tennstedt included there. I would love to hear that. This Ninth is one of the very best I've heard and deserves your attention.