5/2 An "Eroica" Round-Up

I thought it might be interesting to round up a few different interpretations of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, the "Eroica".  The first movement of the Eroica is just about my favorite piece of music ever, so I probably have 7 or 8 versions on my iPod at all times.  It never gets old and I've never heard a "bad" version (which is different from a "badly-played" one) - though some are more interesting than others.  Here's my completely biased and subjective take on a few conductors' approaches to this incredible work which pretty much kicked over the classical table when it premiered...

The video below will take you through 9 excerpts from the Eroica 1st movement conducted by:
1. Fritz Reiner
2. Wilhelm Furtwangler
3. Arturo Toscanini
4. Hermann Scherchen
5. Jascha Horenstein
6. Jordi Savall
7. Herbert von Karajan
8. Pierre Monteux
9. Leonard Bernstein 

Linklist (80 min)

And here's a few of my observations (which may change tomorrow, who knows):

Fritz Reiner
Precise, but measured. Brass and timpani are quite prominent, the orchestra is tightly controlled.

Wilhelm Furtwangler
Slower than Reiner, more of a flowing and organic style, phrases seem to connect to each other more.

Arturo Toscanini
Tight, coiled. More of a motoring feel, at times with a sense of effortless dancing.

Hermann Scherchen
Probably one of the most expressive from a tempo stand point. The pulse seems to change from phrase to phrase - suddenly fast, then slow.

Jascha Horenstein
Opening chords are like massive fists -but then it gets balletic and has a floating quality - until the sforzandos strike which again land like massive slabs of sound.

Jordi Savall
HIP (Historically Informed Performance) - Light, wiry, very fast. Orchestration is very transparent (instruments very clear). Possibly closest to what B originally intended.

Herbert von Karajan
Velvety sound, virtually flawless articulation. Almost too good. Possibly bloodless at times, but still awe-inspiring.

Pierre Monteux
A heavier approach, yet the pulse is so solid it has an inevitability to it. Wide sweeping arcs with phrases which are not afraid to stand up and be counted.  Monteux of course conducted the famous first Stravinsky "Rite of Spring" with the riot and all that....

Leonard Bernstein
Powerful, emotive, Lenny feels it and wants us to feel it. Not as precise as Reiner, he doesn't mind a little glow around the accents.

Here's another video from andantekit which uses the "Funeral March" 2nd movement as a ruler for comparison featuring Giulini, Abbado and von Karajan).
1. Giulini and the Los Angeles Philharmonic 1979 (00:00 - 2:25)
2. Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic 2000 (2:26 - 4:36)
3. Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic late 1960s (4:37 - 6:52)

Beethoven Symphony No. 3 Giulini, Abbado, Karajan

2/22 "Beethoven's 11" (Overtures Overview)

Recently I picked up Beethoven's complete overtures with Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker on LP.  4 vinyl sides containing 11 complete overtures - great stuff.  The symphony "form" developed from the operatic opening overture, so in a way I think of these as 1-movement symphonies.  This seems like a good opportunity to give an overview of all of B.'s overtures (especially as I have Hubert Daschner's liner notes right next to me).

The Creatures of Prometheus Op.43 (1801) (links to Karajan performance)
This overture is influenced by Mozart and includes a solemn introduction followed by a joyful allegro section.  However the use of melodic material from the END of the ballet in the main section of the overture was an innovation for its time.

Leonore I Op.138 (1805) (links to Mengelberg performance)
This overture has a slow middle section and foreshadows the "Florestan melody" - but it was criticized as not having enough melodic material from the "action scenes".

Leonore II Op.72 (1805) (links to Klemperer performance)
B. tried again and this time he followed the plot much more closely, down to the "trumpet call" signalling Pizarro's downfall - talk about spoiler-alert!  What might have confused audiences then was that since the story ends soon after that, there's no reason to revisit the opening exposition, which was typical.  B. didn't feel like following the "liberation of the prisoners from oppression" with a "flirty kitchen comedy scene" I guess...

Leonore III Op.72a (1805) (links to Karajan performance)
In this 3rd try he flip-flopped again and re-integrated the recapitulation.  This lasted about a week....;)

Fidelio Op.72b (1814) (links to Levine performance)
Finally, 9 years later, B. just said "the Devil with it!" and wrote an overture which had absolutely nothing to do with the opera itself.  It's exciting as heck tho.

Coriolan Op.62 (1807) (links to Jurowski performance)
Beethoven avoided the "condensed plot" form and instead just concentrated on a couple main themes and saved the climactic development section for the end.  Daschner writes: "Consequently, the whole of Beethoven's oeuvre scarcely contains sharper contrasts or a more pessimistic ending than those in the Coriolanus Overture".
Arturo Toscanini "Coriolanus Overture Rhearsal" Beethoven

Egmont Op.84 (1810) (links to Karajan performance)
Egmont is another of my favorite overtures and at the end has a moment of silence for the death of the hero (another spoiler alert required here), followed by a radiant, triumphal section, expressing the victory of ideals over bodily destruction.

King Stephen (or Hungary's First Benefactor) Op.117 (1811) (links to Schoenzeler full concert performance)
This overture is basically "incidental music" (film music) using Hungarian flavors (in quasi-sonata form).

The Ruins of Athens Op.113 (1811) (links to Schoenzeler full concert performance)
The shortest overture, this one is also "incidental music" using Turkish flavors this time - it was only used at the opening of the new theater at Pest - and only before the 3rd act even.

Name-Day Op.115 (1815) (links to Karajan performance)
Originally labeled "for any occasion - or for concert use",  it contains seeds of the 9th Symphony.  Name-Day is not the same as a birthday - it's related more to one's actual name and the matching saint's feast day.  More...

The Consecration of the House Op.124 (1822) (links to Kocsis performance)
Composed for the opening of the newly-renovated Josefstadt Theater in Vienna, this overture has a slow introduction followed by a fugue-like fast section - similar to what Handel used to do...and it's no secret Handel was Beethoven's favorite composer in his later years.

1/12 The 10 Essential Beethoven CDs

Sometimes I get asked - What do you recommend as far as essential Beethoven goes?
And someday I'll have to sit down and answer that question.  My knee-jerk response is "All of it", but if you don't feel up to listening to 87 CDs of Beethoven's music in one go, then here's a Top 10 list from "Classical CD Guide.Com.  Their choices are pretty solid and a good place to start when diving into Beethoven's music...here's a sampling:

Top 10 Essential Beethoven CDs (according to Classical CD Guide.com)
(for any artists who I couldn't find on YT, I subbed a pretty good rendition I think.  These are all excerpts (except #1)...you need to buy those 86 other CDs, right?)

1. Symphony 5, Conducted by Carlos Kleiber Herbert von Karajan
(Complete.  Play It Loud.) "The most famous piece of classical music ever written".


2. "Pathétique" and "Moonlight" Piano Sonatas, Alfred Brendel:
"Beethoven's more intimate medium of expression. "
(Moonlight 1st movement)


3. "Razumovsky" String Quartets Takács Tokyo Quartet:
"Revolutionary chamber works. "
(String Quartet 9, in C, Op.59 No 3 M4, excerpt)


4. Symphony 9, "Choral", Conducted by von Karajan,
"An inspiring journey, culminating in the "Ode to Joy." 


5 Violin Concerto, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Eugen Jochum:
"Inaugurating the era of the Romantic concerto." 


6. Piano Concerto 5, "Emperor" Kovacevich, Davis: Emil Gilels/Kurt Sanderling:
"The king of piano concertos."


7. Symphony 3, "Eroica" Szell    Arturo Toscanini '53:
"A revolutionary symphony." 


8. "Spring" and "Kreutzer" Violin Sonatas  Perlman / Ashkenazy, Heifetz/Moiseiwitsch
"The young composer at his most jubilant."
("Kreutzer" 1st movement)


9. Late String Quartets, Takács Quartet,
"Quartets that break all the rules." 
(Opus 131, Movement 5 - Presto)


10 Late Piano Sonatas, Maurizio Pollini,
"Complex works that set a new standard."
(Opus 111, excerpt)


From a purely musical perspective, I can humbly judge this post to be the greatest blog post in recorded history ;).

10/16 Violin Concerto (Mutter and Karajan)

A while back I posted a performance of the Violin Concerto Op.61 in Dm by Vadim Repin with conductor Valery Gergiev. For a somewhat different, perhaps more measured performance, here's Anne-Sophie Mutter performing with Herbert von Karajan conducting.  I believe Mutter auditioned the piece for Karajan when she was very young, but Karajan said to come back the following year.  So the following year they did the below performance....

Here's the full concert from an asian Youtube-like site, you'll have to wait for a Chinese commercial to end before it starts...


I came across another video profile of Karajan, I haven't seen this yet frankly but looks to cover some of the same material as the previous Karajan doc I posted about. I think this one addresses his charitable contributions more....there is a doc on Mutter on Youtube but's not in English unfortunately.

9/4 Karajan - Beauty as I see it

"Karajan - Beauty as I see it (Die Schönheit wie ich sie sehe)"
A film by Robert Dornhelm

Fascinating interview-based documentary about Herbert von Karajan, the most recorded conductor of the 20th century.  This shows him as a real jet-setting star conductor (he actually has a jet).
Rumor has it that the compact disc was designed to be 80 minutes long because Karajan insisted that Beethoven's 9th should be able to fit on one disc.  His recordings are generally very good, some superb.  He really goes for that homogenous, silky sound, but without too much heaviness.  However his membership in the Nazi party before the 2nd World War is certainly questionable (tho he later was exonerated somewhat).  Either way, he was a major force in the making and marketing of classical music in the 2nd half of the last century.

Linklist

OK I just re-watched this after a very long time and I have to add that this is one of the most pretentious and self-aggrandizing things I've ever seen.  I'm surprised Karajan doesn't speak in the third-person.  Nonetheless it's a very interesting portrait a unique musician. Maybe a good drinking game could be devised from this. 

Karajan would like your attention.

Karajan is pleased.