Search - The Academy of Ancient Music, Arleen Auger, Anthony Rolfe Johnson :: Beethoven - The Symphonies / Augér, Robbin, Rolfe Johnson, Reinhart, AAM, Hogwood

Best authentic beethoven

drollere | Sebastopol, CA United States | 05/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"perhaps the major innovation in recent classical music practice was the exploration, beginning 30 years ago, of the post baroque repertory using "authentic" musical instruments and interpretative styles. this was already an established approach for baroque and renaissance works, where authentic instruments changed the technical demands and resources of players and the entire sound experience of the performances. by now the approach has been applied to every composer from schubert to brahms (under makerras), but beethoven's symphonies were the beachhead in the "modern" repertory.hogwood's beethoven cycle was overshadowed at the time of its release by the metrically obsessive and aimless performances of roger norrington ("dr. tick tock"), who applied "authentic" practice with a lack of musical ease ... yet over time the hogwood set just seems better and better. the AAM plays with a delightful ensemble and control: from the fingerwrenching finale of the eighth symphony to the technically fearsome valveless horns in the third, this was a performance of discovery and challenge for all the players, and they pulled it off handsomely. the tempos are authentic but there is plenty of nuance and drama in the dynamics and phrasing. the eroica has beautifully long periods, the pastoral a lively but not rushed feeling of "new life experienced in the country," and the choral finale of the ninth is glorious, all the singers in top form.best of all, the sound is superb, with a wide dynamic range and ample soundstage and without the string harshness sometimes associated with period performance recordings. there is a sheer, transparent quality to the sound that lets the musicality shine clearly -- it's a wonderful experience. (i should mention: i own the original individual cd's, so can't comment on the packaging or booklet of the boxed set.)"

AMAZING!!!!!!!!

John Kwok | 02/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I must say that I have been listening to Beethoven's symphonies for a long time. I own interpretations by Karajan, Bernstein, Norrington, and Gardiner. Hogwood's set easily towers over them all. Since John Eliot Gardiner's cycle is the most critically acclaimed I will compare it with Hogwood. In Symphonies 1,2,4, and 8 Hogwood and Gardiner's renditions are the same. When It comes the third, Hogwood leads a brisk but not rushed preformance. The AAM sound so clear and bright and play their music emotionally. With Gardiner,I feel that he just chose his outrageous tempo just to make it different from the others, his orchestra sounds so mechanical. Coming to the fifth symphony; the major difference between Gardiner and Hogwood is the final movement. Gardiner takes it at jet speed while Hogwood allows the music to unfold by itself. In the pastoral, Hogwood manages faster tempi than Gardiner but does not sacrafice the emotion of the music. Gardiner's sixth is equally impressive if one ignores the his tedious reading of the sixth's first movement. Hogwood and Gardiner's seventh do not differ that much in that Gardiner takes it slower in the last three movement of the symphony.Now comes to all mighty ninth. Although the first three movements of the symohony sound the same, I prefer Hogwood's just because he maneges a better sound out of his orchestra. The two differ in the choral movement, Notably the "Ode to Joy" chorus. I must admitt that when I first listened to the chorus under Hogwood I thought it was going to be like Norrington's terrible reading of Beethoven's ninth. But then (I don't know how),Hogwood just made the music sound so grand that the slower tempo just seemed right. When I first heard Gardiner, I must say that adrenaline rushed through my head, but then I got bored with the recording. Other than the fast tempo Gardiner did not bring anything revolutionary to the ninth symphony. I will just end this review by saying to the customers: Pick the interpretation that you like not the one that a music critic likes. Don't just read my review and believe that the Hogwood set is the best. Make your own descision."

Superb Period Instrument Version Of Beethoven's Symphonies

John Kwok | New York, NY USA | 12/15/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although this is a period instrument version of Beethoven's symphonies, it should also be regarded as one of the finest Beethoven symphony cycles ever recorded. Hogwood has some interesting insights into Beethoven's scores, which remain valid even after the publication of the Jonathan Del Mar-edited scores. His tempi don't seem rushed, but correct, and he tends to lead, not conduct, the Academy of Ancient Music, in brisk, technically polished performances. Hogwood's interpretations of the 3rd and 6th symphonies are among the finest I have heard, yet they are overshadowed by his magnificient conducting of the 9th symphony, featuring excellent singing from the soloists, most notably Auger and Johnson. Hogwood is also very good with his interpretations of the symphonies 1, 2, 4 and 5; the only disappointments are his pedestrian readings of symphonies 7 and 8. The sound quality is superb. I don't know whether this is preferable to Gardiner's critically acclaimed cycle, but it should still be regarded as one of the best performed Beethoven symphony cycles available on CD. Although my preferred Beethoven symphony cycles include those by Bernstein, Bohm, and Harnoncourt, Hogwood's still gives me much pleasure."