Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic :: The Bernstein Century - Beethoven: Symphony no 3 'Eroica' / Bernstein, New York PO

A Benchmark Eroica

John Parker Marmaro | Spring Hill, Florida | 01/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Few single works of art have assumed so crucial a role -- crucial in the etymological sense, of being "at the crux"-- as Beethoven's Third Symphony. It was one of the greatest leaps forward in the entire history, not only of compostion, but in the arts in general. Yet on examining the symphony, its revolutionary nature is bodied forth in a myriad of smaller touches and a handful of huge masterstrokes. It was the longest symphony written to that date by a considerable margin. Though its scoring was quite conventional-- strings, pairs of flutes, oboes, bassoons, clarinets, trumpets, timpani, and three horns (Mozart and Haydn both had used more than two horns occasionally before), it was how Beethoven deployed them that was revolutionary. The recording on this disc was at one time released coupled with Bernstein's rendition of Beethoven's First Symphony-- and that was instructive, as the spiritual ground covered between the first, dated 1800, and the Third, dated 1804, is immense: it is like Beethoven is speaking a different language, despite the similarities of structure. All four movements of the Eroica are startling, but the first movement is the most so: indeed, it is in the innovations in this Protean movement that the revolutionary nature of Beethoven's art is established. This originality begins with the very first page: the movement begins with two gigantic chords, which Bernstein rightly calls "whipslashes"-- they are both economical and rhetorical, and also serve a technical function: they establish the downbeats that echo throughout the gentle and unstressed pulsations that start below with first theme. The theme is Protean also: it begins by outlining the tonic chord-- the basic harmonic material of tonality-- but then almost as if it gets derailed, after 8 notes on the tonic chord, it drops to the leading tone (D) and then to a note that properly has no place in the "world" of the key of E-flat Major, namely a C-sharp. Much of the rest of the movement is, essentially, an exorcism of, or more precisely, a massaging out, of this "sore thumb" note, which dominates much of the development section to come (relabelled as D-flat). As the opening tune, up to the intrusion of the C-sharp, is essentially a horn call, adding that note is also aberrant (horns of the time in C or F would not have been able to play it!). The second group begins with a seemingly innocuous tripping figure of downward moving dotted three-note groups. This downward droop, in fact, is a reflection of the droop down to C-sharp in the first statement of the first subject; this theme will also paradoxically inaugurate the most turbulent and violent moment in the enormous development section, where the cadential six fortes near the end of the exposition become frank dissonances, and then seem to stalk off, where follows a "new theme". This "new theme" is often cited as an innovation-- you weren't supposed to add a "new theme" in the development (a "rule" that Haydn and Mozart "broke" rather often). But the genius of it is that what seems to be a new theme is in fact a hybrid, a melding of elements from the first subject and the second. (Listen to it-- you will hear aspects of both in it, yet also recognize it as still "new"-- paradoxical also, maybe, but what genius!) This "new theme" returns in the coda later. Some of Beethoven's little stokes have caused some of the most comment: the premonitory horncall of the main theme a measure before the recapitulation (not to mention the irruption of duple time near the end of the Scherzo). But among Beethoven's greatest achievements in this monumental first movement is that it is both spiritual and stirring, utterly intellectually satisfying and rationally structured yet seeming an organic whole, seeming at once both gigantic and yet utterly economical and even terse in pursuing its logic...



Well! I could go on and on, about the amazing Marcia Funebre (one of the two most famous ever written, the other being Chopin's from his B Minor Sonata-- but this by Beethoven is so much finer!)(Bernstein says that it is perfect, as if it were dictated from heaven!)-- the brief mercurial Scherzo with its wonderful horn-calling Trio (horn calls haunt this symphony!) and the monumental Theme and Variations of the finale... but I want to say a word about the performance:



Another reviewer has said that this version is a "sedate" one. I disagree. First of all, I don't look for edgy performances, but performances that try to realize the composer's vision (so to speak!)-- and Bernstein's is perfect. It is very much in the tradition, I think, of Toscanini, and (as with Bernstein's equally magisterial 1960s renditions of the Fifth and Sixth and Seventh) it is in my opinion the greatest actualization of Beethoven's score on record. I often find that too many conductors, in striving to be avant-garde or cutting edge, or to find something of their own in the score, really misread or even distort it. If one wants a fine recording which presents Beethoven's great symphony as he intended it, I cannot think of a better performance.



A note to folks new to classical music: this music must be listened to as a primary activity: no distractions. Turn off the phone, land or cell. Sit comfortably upright in a room that is dim but not dark. Let others in the household know not to disturb you or even enter the room. Sit with your eyes not quite closed. And turn the music up LOUD!!! Even better, if you have fine headphones, use them-- you will hear all the details in this intricate music so much the clearer. Then: REALLY LISTEN-- actively pay attention to the music-- and it will take you on an amazing journey! You will be rewarded with a great artistic experience!"

Truly stands out in Bernstein's Beethoven Discography

dv_forever | Michigan, USA | 08/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Leonard Bernstein recorded two complete Beethoven symphony cycles plus a final Ode to Freedom concert of the 9th Symphony, ( which was awful ), and a late 7th Symphony with the BSO. He also recorded multiple versions of the piano concertos. Furthermore, he recorded the epic Missa Solemnis and Fidelio. From all that and more, if you were to pick two recordings to view Bernstein in the best light as a Beethoven interpreter, it would be this New York Eroica and his string orchestra performances of two late string quartets, opus 131 and 135 with the Vienna Philharmonic.



This version of the Eroica can be seen as ahead of it's time but if you really look at it, you'll see that Toscanini already said everything Bernstein had to say decades before. However, that does not in any manner take away from Bernstein's outstanding interpretation here. You have to remember those old days with Klemperer's plodding methods. He is but one example, there must have been dozens of others at the time. Bernstein is a breath of fresh air, allowing the revolutionary aspects of the score to enfold without any mannered monumentalism stemming from the German Romantic school of Beethoven conducting.



Two conductors of the era were along with Bernstein heavily influenced by Toscanini's style. They were George Szell and Herbert von Karajan. Both Szell's and Karajan's versions of the Eroica in the early 1960's can be stacked up against this Bernstein version. I suggest you own all three to contrast. Of the three, it is Bernstein's performance that is most driven. Bernstein also takes the first movement exposition repeat unlike most conductors of that era.



The first movement enfolds majestically, with dramatic contrasts underlined and the air of inevitability ever present. The funeral march is dramatic but never ponderous. Sure, it lacks the merits of the grand Furtwangler performance from 1944 or Karajan's fine contemporary version but it is great, unlike the slower and lifeless recording Bernstein conducted for his Vienna cycle. The scherzo and the finale are also wonderful. The New York Philharmonic is out to impress and they do. It would be perhaps unkind to mention that the sound is mostly typical CBS stuff for the period. The strings sound fierce and somewhat rough during the climaxes but it's not the end of the world.



Coming from someone like me who is not a Bernstein fan, especially not of his Beethoven, I can say this recording has some unique merits. It takes the classic convictions of Arturo Toscanini and infuses the New York Philharmonic of the early 1960's with Toscaninian drive and structural sense along with Bernstein's charisma and passion. This performance stands the test of time. The lecture, "How a great symphony was written", which takes place after the symphony, is pedantic but worth a listen. Bernstein's enthusiasm for this great masterpiece is very apparent."

Toscanini in much better sound

Discophage | France | 03/05/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"See my detailed review of this same recording of the Eroica made by Bernstein with the New York Phil in 1964 under what I think was the recording's first CD release in 1986, which is the one I have (Symphony 3 " Eroica "). Overall it is an excellent reading. Fans of Bernstein may be surprised that I liken it to Toscanini's (I am refering to his "official" 1949 recording, Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3), because Toscanini is viewed as a radical in Beethoven - conventional wisdom has it that he was always too fast and hard-driven anyway - while Bernstein certainly doesn't have that reputation, but indeed in the first and second movements (the Funeral March) as well as the first section of the finale Bernstein comes within seconds of Toscanini. And it is not just a question of tempo: like Toscanini, Bernstein has the muscularity and snap of accents and the glaring brass that wonderfully convey the high-octane energy, the youthful and brash ebullience of the first movement and the lively mood of the theme and variations, reaching uplifting intensity and drama in the climaxes.



Now, does that make Bernstein (and Toscanini) a radical? Hardly, or only to the ears of those accustomed to a certain tradition, whose main exponents were the grand and majestic Furtwängler and the spacious and overall gentle (but not devoid of muscle and power) Walter. For all their wonderful ebullience and briskness of tempo, Bernstein and Toscanini are still far less radical than Beethoven. Even independent of the composer's controversial metronome marks (amazing the imagination displayed by musicians who otherwise profess the utmost and most humble allegiance to the composer's intentions and scores, in order NOT to observe these when it comes to those metronome marks: so they were added years after the compositions; so Beethoven was deaf; so his metronome was defective; so he didn't know how to use it; and what not), just take the tempo indications of the Eroica "Allegro con brio" (first movement), "Allegro vivace" (scherzo), "Allegro molto" (finale). Mind you: NOT "allegro ma non troppo", or "allegro moderato", or "moderato". How faster can you get? What should Beethoven had written, if he had wanted these movements to be played really fast (like his metronome marks indicate): "Allegro precipitoso possible"? If you want radicalism in the Eroica, and tempos approaching Beethoven's metronome, go to Scherchen (now THAT' s hard-driven, to the point of suffocation - and it is great! see Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6 or Beethoven: Symphonies 1 3 6 8 (Box Set)) and Norrington (Beethoven: Sinfonie 3 "EROICA"). Toscanini and Bernstein are NOT fast and hard-driven. They both magnificently express the turbulence, the explosive exuberance, the youthful brashness of the outer movements, the playfulness of the finale.



Moreover, Bernstein (like Toscanini) is far from fast in the Funeral March (although compared to Furtwängler's time-at-a-standstill funeral lament anything will seem fast). For something closer to Beethoven's metronome (though not quite there either), with a real sense of a forward-moving march, go to Norrington. Nonetheless Bernstein imbues it with great pathos, but less violence than Toscanini. I confess to preferring Toscanini's hair-raising violence - after all, walking to one's grave should produce some terror - but Bernstein here is fine in his own right, and the sound is so much better



Yet, two disappointments prevent Bernstein's recording from being one of my possible desert island versions. His scherzo will shock no believer in tradition: his very moderate tempo, hardly faster than Furtwangler's, gives it the character of a good-natured and somewhat heavy-footed hunt in the forest, like a premonition of the Pastorale, rather than the breathless race indicated by Beethoven's metronome, or the wild dance of the elves played by Toscanini at an even faster tempo. Szell (Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 "Eroica" & 8), Scherchen, Leibowitz (Symphonies No. 1 & 3) are closer to my ideal here. Also, Bernstein's coda to the finale is something of a letdown, way too cautious, and despite the wonderful pungency of the brass, it fails to generate as much excitement as it should.



If it hadn't been for that, this would have been a profoundly satisfying version, generating high excitement from beginning to end. As it is it remains one that I cherish.

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