EROICA ....one of my very first pieces in the classics....
@kratzkamer
27 күн бұрын
greta stuff- great work vintage
@vintagesounds3878
27 күн бұрын
@@kratzkamer Thank you!
@georgejohnson1498
Ай бұрын
Amazing that I did not even know this recording existed at all! The LPO on its top form - like the Philharmonia, it was a super orchestra from the start - in a top flight HMV recording from the early Blumlein years. I cannot say that Kousevitsky is my cup of tea though. Both the first movement and Finale have too many odd tempi and mannered ritardandos for my idea of Beethoven. In this symphony it is really quite difficult to find a recorded performance that catches it all well. The music is quite gruff, and demands a powerful but quite direct way. It must drive on without rushing into shambles, but drive on it must. I suppose my ideal performance would be Erich Kleiber [with first movement exposition repeat!], but my favourite is Klemperer live in Copenhagen with a less than stellar Danish Orchestra. No repeat, but it is faster than any of Toscanini's recordings and stays on the rails ... Just!!! [On Testament CD]. Dear VS, It cannot be left unsaid, but a major attraction here is that the playing and well made original recording sounds as good as anything from the mono era of LPs in this music. Such a well judged transfer! So grateful to have the chance to listen to this music in a unknown to me and astonishing performance. Best wishes from George
@vintagesounds3878
Ай бұрын
@georgejohnson1498 Thanks George. I was certainly surprised to see Koussevitzky with the LPO! The EMI sound is certainly very good, and the LPO lives up to expectation.
@The-Organised-Pianist
20 күн бұрын
Dear George, This is my favourite Symphony & I enjoyed it greatly - big thanks to VS! However, I agree with your very well-observed remark regarding tempo. I'd suggest that the implacable tempi are perhaps even central to the meaning of the work. To my mind, this is a piece about the human will: strength of spirit & unquenchable determination driving forward through all obstacles. So, I would suggest that the task of a conductor is to trust the music utterly & to LET it unfold in all its forceful, majestic might, without undue interference! Beethoven absolutely knew what he was doing. He has crafted music expecting momentum. Momentum must therefore be maintained. If that is done, then just after 42:20, as the music slows for that heartfelt section that suddenly seems to encapsulate all of human life - I think now of "The still, sad music of humanity" (Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey) - the effect will be all the more moving. This section, brief though it is, is like a poignant hint of the moral knowledge that humanity needs in order fully to face & overcome the world as it is. From it, there is no honest turning back, & so I feel that the tempo again needs to be resolute after it. A fine transfer, VS. Thank you so much! Best wishes from a grateful Beethovenian!
@vintagesounds3878
20 күн бұрын
@@The-Organised-Pianist I'm glad you appreciated it despite the reservations in relation to tempo.
@georgejohnson1498
20 күн бұрын
@@The-Organised-Pianist The pre-Coda of the Finale is to me in so many ways the emotional climax of the whole symphony. A moment of refection and seeming calm before the whirlwind Coda carries us home in a victorious romp. The distance travelled emotionally in this symphony was perhaps only prefigured in some of the Haydn symphonies such a 55 which also has a three four time signature in the first movement, and, like Beethoven would later do, Haydn does everything to disrupt the sense of a gentle dance. Syncopations, odd off-beats, unconventional phrase lengths, and some rather daring twisting of the harmonic structure. Then the unprecedented Funeral march which bespeaks of Napoleon's downfall long before it happened! The Scherzo is full of crazy oddities and rhythmic traps. Very easy for this to end up in a pile-up in performance if anyone lapses in concentration! But the Final caps this symphony in the very passage you mention that comes so close to the end of the whole work. Beethoven certainly makes us wait for it!! I have never struggled with the though that the first two movement are not matched by the Scherzo and Finale. In a great performance the whole thing actually leads to this humane interlude. Best wishes from George
@The-Organised-Pianist
19 күн бұрын
@@vintagesounds3878 Very much so, VS! And the tempo element led to a very interesting conversation with George. Much appreciated!
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