Philippe Herreweghe offers a truly startling observation in his introduction to this new traversal of the Beethoven symphonies on the Belgian label Talent. While he believes that a musician’s experience and execution of his craft is greatly enhanced by the use of period instruments, he does not always find that all music is suited to period performance styles, especially the music of Beethoven. He also states that while he does frequently use period instruments in his recordings, he often employs modern tunings to achieve better articulation and because they’re more artistically appropriate. I found that quite interesting, because (at the time I requested this disc for review) I’d prepared myself for more of an authentic instrument performance of these two symphonies, and was blown away by the totally modern sound emanating from the speakers. This superb disc is definitely on my “best of” list for this year – or any year, for that matter – it’s that good.
Compared to my reference for these works, Karajan’s 1963 cycle on Deutsche Grammophon, the pacing of the tempi is considerably more deliberate – and it suits the performances perfectly. Playful movements, such as the Fourth’s Allegro Vivace are sufficiently brisk, and in the Seventh’s Presto, he mixes caution precariously with reckless abandon – the tympani strokes are thunderous throughout, and quite striking sonically. The disc appears to be sourced from an all-DSD recording, and the proof is in the listening; this may be the finest recording – in terms of sound quality – of Beethoven symphonies in my collection. The recording hall for this disc, DeRoma, was an abandoned period movie theater that had been falling into decay for a quarter-century; it has now been fully restored, and offers superb acoustics for the recording process. Hopefully much more is to come from this fruitful synergy of musical forces. Very highly recommended!
– Tom Gibbs
