Search - Beethoven, Lsc, Hickox :: Symphony 9 " Choral "

The best of Hickox's Beethoven set; a worthy competitor

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 09/18/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It astonished me that there wasn't even one review of Richard Hickox's fine Beethoven Symphony No. 9 at Amazon! This was clearly the best part of his Beethoven set with the Northern Sinfonia of England, a band that was purported to be the appropriately-sized orchestra Beethoven would have known in his day, thus offering a bit of period authenticity to this performance. This performance was issued separately in 1989.



The first movement, which may be the best part of this peformance, is enormously propulsive, especially during the end of the development section when the ascending theme flourishes and returns to the exposition amidst timpani beats and blasts from the strings and brass. This is so heavily weighted if was hard to believe this was a downsized band. I listened to this performance many times and this section never failed to give me a chill, something I cannot say about other Ninths I've heard by much bigger name conductors and orchestras.



This was one of the first performances of period Beethoven that adhered to period performance principles while using an orcehstra comprised of modern instruments, a trend that caught on and has been copied through our day by just about every big name period conductor. The playing from the Northern Sinfonia of England is brilliant throughout -- taut, effective, grinding, all the adjectives you expect to apply to exceptional period Beethoven. Hickox, who went slack in many of the other symphonies in his now withdrawn Beethoven box, kept the ceremonies moving along here and demanded -- and received -- top notch playing and emotional involvement from his players.



The all important singing in the final movement from members of the London Symphony Chorus and soloists Alfreda Hodgson, Heather Harper, Robert Tear and Gwynne Howell is equally nonpareil with an exception -- Harper's near missed note near the end of the quartet's last solo. Most listeners will forgive this after hearing Tear's magnificent solo in "Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen" and will likely enjoy everyone's entire output.



Owing to its construction, this doesn't sound like a period performance except for exceptional clarity of execution that we now take for granted in period performance. Orchestra, choir and soloists are all hideously expressive and produce a pleasant surprise for both hardcore period enthusiasts and old timers that like high cholesterol versions of the past from German conductors.



This was issued on both ASV and Musical Heritage Society bought the rights to publish and sell it in USA, so one of those should be available to interested listeners even if ASV has discontinued it. For the modest cost stated here, and in light of inadequate Ninths produced by big name bands in recent years, this issue is definitely worth your time and money regardless of your perspective on Beethoven or period performance."