BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 2 in D; Symphony No. 7 in A – Minnesota Orchestra/ Osmo Vanska, conductor – BIS Multichannel SACD 1816, 75:49 ***1/2 [Distr. by Qualiton]:
With this release we bring a close to the Minnesota Orchestra’s estimable Beethoven Symphony series, all done in clean and suave SACD sound. So now that it is complete, can we render a verdict? Well, according to the writers of this website, each issue has received four stars, all felt the music making was inspired, the sound great, and the orchestra itself playing as well as any.
So why am I raining on this parade with my persnickety ½ star appended to the other three? With this issue I am not at all convinced of the interpretative philosophy predicating these readings. The usual sound is terrific; the horns soar and are punchy, lots of period movement thuds from the timpani, and moderately chosen tempos adorn both symphonies, though number seven leans to the quick side. The strings are lush and full though they sound smallish, almost a chamber-size reading, something I did not notice on the other recordings. The D major sounds puckish and alert, with fine phrasing and a sense of Haydnesque style; indeed, Vanska plays up the Haydn connection here to triumphal proportions, and I almost came away convinced that Haydn could have actually written it.
With the A major we enter into perhaps the most recorded symphony of all time. This “apotheosis of the dance” (Wagner) must be light on its feet and quicksilver in feeling. One cannot achieve this dexterity in the first movement simply by upping the tempo; it must be done internally, the way the 6/8 rhythms are interpreted. Vanska seems content with what feels to me like a very heavy 1-2, 1-2, almost march-like, with little sense of lilt and fleetness of foot. One must feel like the downbeats barely touch the ground, similar to the Viennese waltz when properly played. This one remains earthbound even with the exceptional performance. Listen to Kleiber, Muti, or the old Davis (EMI) for sterling examples of how this work might go.
I hate to close the series on a downer, so let me suggest that the entire nine are well worth having for they do have a point of view and offer many hours of enjoyable listening. But as Gary Lemco said when reviewing numbers 4 and 5, “Solid music-making but no revelations of interpretation.”
— Steven Ritter
