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A couple of "late stage" Beethoven Symphony Cycles...

96.250.225.70
Posted on May 11, 2022 at 09:08:44
SE



for those times when, facing the near-to-end of physical media purchases, you just CANNOT stop yourself from "adding a couple more shrimp to the barbie" -- in other words, I don't "need" them, I just "want" them. The P. Jarvi cycle I already know well, as I have a couple of the individual disks from years ago, and decided to complete the cycle. The Jarvi is VERY powerful, and incredibly well recorded. The Blomstedt is not a new cycle, but it is very likely his last run at a complete survey. It is a sentimental purchase (that happens to get some great reviews)!:-)

At its current asking price of $30 (delivered) the Jarvi set is a great bargain (I seem to recall it being hard to get and much costlier the last time I looked a few years ago).

 

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Another "late stage" Beethoven Symphony Cycle, posted on May 11, 2022 at 10:13:20
pbarach
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 I live the Jarvi a lot. But don't overlook Haitink/LSO on LSO Live. These performances are not the boring, heavy time-beating Haitink of his earlier Beethoven cycles. They are energetic and extremely well-played by the LSO. The Barbican sound is a bit dry on some of the set, but very clear. Also, if you have Mch and can find the SACD box, go for it.

 

I used to have a couple of the individual albums from the Jarvi set myself, posted on May 11, 2022 at 10:53:44
Chris from Lafayette
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 I agree with you that the Jarvi performances are VERY well recorded (at least the symphonies I heard - MCh SACD), but I just couldn't get past the vibrato restrictions in the string playing. I got rid of the couple of albums I had from the set. I haven't yet heard the Blomstedt/LGO set at all.

 

Yes - That Haitink / LSO Live set is often overlooked. . ., posted on May 11, 2022 at 11:23:16
Chris from Lafayette
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 . . . probably because of his less-than-exciting earlier cycles, and people think they know what to expect from him in this repertoire. One thing I really like about the LSO Live cycle is the impressive impact of the trumpets and tympani, an aspect which some folks think that Haitink may have picked up from HIP performances. My opinion is that a large part of it also has to do with how the engineering was done, but, whatever the reason, it gives the Haitink set a very distinctive and satisfying "sound".

Strangely enough, I just recently acquired the 2010 Colin Davis / LSO Live MCh SACD of Haydn's Die Jareszeiten (The Seasons). It too has that same impactful sound from the trumpets and drums (and horns too - the hunting chorus in the Autumn section!) which really gives the performance an edge over others. The soloists are good too (Miah Persson et al.), although the tenor (Jeremy Ovenden) is a bit light for my taste. But once again, the big, hard impact is very impressive, while the more delicate parts also receive their due. I haven't heard a lot of performances of this work, but this Davis recording is certainly my current fave.

 

I can understand that...I don't mind the "HIP effects" myself..., posted on May 11, 2022 at 11:29:45
SE
 As they say in the world of software development...is it a bug, or is it a feature?:-)

 

I prefer Blomstedt's Beethoven set with...., posted on May 11, 2022 at 11:30:24
TWB
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Staatskapelle Dresden that set along with Josef Krips and the LSO are my go-to sets for a complete Beethoven cycle...

 

RE: Yes - That Haitink / LSO Live set is often overlooked. . ., posted on May 11, 2022 at 13:18:09
pbarach
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 I thought the Vanska/Minnesota set was going to be an outstanding set of Mch Beethoven symphonies, but after buying two SACDs and hearing the others on library copies, I just found them net as a pin and incredibly boring. The extreme dynamic range, while it might be fine in a concert hall, was just unmanageable in my listening room. For example, when the opening of Nine was just barely perceptible, I was blasted out of my chair when the dynamic level picked up within the first couple of minutes. The soloists were subpar, too.

The Haitink set doesn't have any of these shortcomings.

 

+1 on that Haitink set! It completely surprised me! nt, posted on May 11, 2022 at 13:45:27
krisjan
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Since you have a preference, I'll assume you have done some side-by-side..., posted on May 11, 2022 at 15:16:41
SE
 listening between the two sets. The Dresden set is available for streaming at Amazon, so I can do the same. Thanks!

 

I'm convinced by both of you -- thanks!:-) n/t, posted on May 11, 2022 at 15:17:41
SE
 .

 

Yes - I mostly agree with with you about the Vanska Beethoven set, posted on May 11, 2022 at 16:36:00
Chris from Lafayette
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 However, I recently completed my purchase of the Sudbin/Vanska set of the Beethoven Piano Concertos with nos. 4 and 5 (24/96 MCh downloads), and I was really impressed by the energy in the lower strings in the Emperor Concerto - so often, the lower strings lag behind the beat slightly (especially in the last movement, when they've got the running sixteenth notes), and the Minnesota strings were maintaining the tempo and energy to an extraordinary degree. For me, this concerto set is more impressive for Vanska and the orchestra, especially in the last two concertos. Sudbin is often good too, but sometimes his playing doesn't have the right sort of accentuation and clarity - for instance, the turns in the first movement of the Emperor are just not accented right for optimal clarity - at least IMHO. (OTOH, maybe this lack of clarity has to do with the very fast tempo he's taking - hard to articulate it properly when the tempo is so fast.) And as I posted years ago, Sudbin's playing in the first two concertos is impossibly fussy - again, as I hear it.

 

Sudbin in Beethoven concertos, posted on May 12, 2022 at 04:09:36
pbarach
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 Chris, I haven't heard the Vanska/Sudbin/Minnesota Beethoven concertos, but I will check them out.

I like Sudbin's playing in many of his recordings. My favorite is his **first** Scarlatti CD, which has some of the best recorded piano sound I've heard (I use it to test tweaks and adjustments in my system). Unfortunately, his second Scarlatti record, which was released as a hybrid SACD, has foggy sound either in stereo or Mch, and the interpretations distract from the music rather than illuminating it.

 

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