A New Vision- An Old Vision
T. Cheng | Diamond Bar, CA USA | 07/05/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Beethoven the man has become Beethoven the God. This great composer has been placed on a pedestal (literally in many orchestra halls and countless musician's studios, homes, etc..) and has become the myth and legend. As time passed and the Romantic movment came into full blossom (Stravinsky may have said "decay" more like it..), the performance practice of this man's music has changed to reflect the times. Wagner's theories of tempo fluctuation, the increase in the size of the orchestra, the idea that slower is more "profound" music-making... all this has contributed to a general slowing of tempi for much of this great man's music. Solti plays the first movement at over 18 minutes. Zinman plays it at appx 13 minutes. These are 2 radically different interpretations. Who is right? Is it "relative?" No, it is not. LVB had a certain idea in his head and that idea did not include versions almost 50% faster/slower than the other. Why else would he have valued a new invention called the metronome so much?
Zinman (like Toscanini, Karajan, and now the period intrument movement) has decided to scrape clean almost 200 years of interpretative vision to see anew. Listen to the most radical change in this Barenreiter edition, the 4th movment Alla Marcia. Taken at such a fast tempi the march becomes a thing of real joy, and isn't that what this music is about ("brothers, hasten on your way, as a knight exults in victory!") ?
I have re-discovered my love of this symphony anew and, wait a moment, it cost me how much? Six dollars. For goodness sake, even if you disagree with everything I just said, order this cd and judge for yourself, try something new, and awaken a little suprise and (hopefully) shock in your typical listening routine."
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1
