BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor – Soloists/Choirs/Hessian Radio-Sym. Orch./ Dean Dixon – Audite

BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 “Choral” – Shige Yano, soprano/ Marga Hoeffgen, alto/ Fritz Wunderlich, tenor/ Theo Adam, bass/ Choir of the Hessian Radio/ Choir of South German Radio/ Hessian Radio-Sym. Orch./ Dean Dixon – Audite 95.620, 64:58 [Distr. by Naxos] ****:
Afro-American conductor Dean Dixon (1915-1976) assumed the post of Chief Conductor of the Hessian Radio-Orchestra in autumn of 1961, where he set to work to “legitimize” his position. Among his many projects, he invited the rising vocal superstar Fritz Wunderlich (1930-1966) to contribute his remarkable powers to the tenor part of the Beethoven Ninth for the performance 13 April 1962 at Frankfurt am Main. Only one month prior, Wunderlich and colleague Hermann Prey had been appointed Bayerischer Kammersinger for their participation in the life of the Bavarian State Opera Munich.
Dixon himself presents an opening movement of considerable breadth and girth, adhering to the un poco maestoso designation particularly closely. The Hessian strings and tympani remain singularly alert as the intensely chromatic line becomes increasingly contrapuntal, the strings’ robust trill quite striking. In the transition to the first movement coda, the brass and flute engage in a spirited colloquy whose periods explode, sink, and rise with fervent energy, leading to the trumpet and flute filigree over martial string and tympani punctuations. The coda literally grinds its way upward, a kind of pre-Wagnerian surfacing of Nibelungen powers, rising to another statement of the full theme. Dixon takes the repeat in the Scherzo, the strings moving softly yet lithely into the tympanic beats that define this exercise in dynamic rhythm. Dixon seems to be striving for some more intimate, closed space here than is the usual wont of the more ferociously-driven readings. Excellent trumpet and woodwind ensemble keep the bristling figures alert; and the tempo speeds up into the Trio section, with its busy bassoon, French horn, oboe, and lovely low strings.
Dixon’s rather brisk approach to the Adagio molto e cantabile may reduce its “mystical” properties, but it certainly accentuates its flexible lyricism. The latter half of the movement seems a bit more urged than the Andante moderato marking, but the Hessian strings, brass, and tympani respond in vaulted colors, nobly vocal. We, like the live attendees at the is concert, have been expectantly awaiting Beethoven’s last movement. After the first rush of concentrated vehemence, Dixon leisurely presents the array of prior motifs, each of which the composer rejects as the plan for his Ode to Joy. The famous theme Dixon moves lithely but not glibly, affording it an eloquence and power of attraction. Dresden-born baritone Theo Adam (b. 1926) intones Beethoven’s own words, “O friends, no more of these tones,” which signify Beethoven’s desire for a “human” sound effect. Youthful Shige Yano had studied with Lotte Lehmann in California; while alto Marga Hoeffgen (1921-1995) represented the voice of experience. The review at the time commented that the “choirs of the Sueddeutsche and Hessischer Rundfunk presented themselves wonderfully attuned and powerfully sonorous.” The tenor janissary moment with Wunderlich floats, especially in his aerial comment that we be “Froh wie seine Sonnen fliegen” (Joyful, as his suns are flying). The heroic impulse immediately asserts itself in fierce counterpoint, and the entire complement of forces rises to embrace the theme prior to the “slow movement” invoked by the “Seid umschlungen millionen.” But what affection do the choristers bring to “Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!” the phrase repeated in the final, prestissimo section that ushers in the magisterial, equally “Turkish” conclusion rife with the Promethean spark of cosmic compassion.
—Gary Lemco