Major; BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 – Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra (Haydn)/ BBC Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven)/
Sir Colin Davis
– PentaTone RQR MultiChannel SACD PTC 5186 126, 78:00 ****:
Recordings inscribed by Philips in November and December 1975 (under
the production supervision of Vittorio Negri of Vivaldi fame) with Sir
Colin Davis are herein resurrected to excellent effect by Polyhymnia,
now in the four-channel surround sound which gives Haydn’s peppy
symphonies and Beethoven’s first effort in symphonic form a definite
three-dimensional ambiance. Woodwind entries abound in each of these
spirited works, with the oboes and solo cello of the Haydn G Major’s
Largo providing a model for much of Beethoven’s own scoring.
Colin Davis has always had a penchant for clean, interior lines; I
sometimes refer to him as the British Karl Bohm. Davis manages to keep
the sound of the otherwise grand Royal Concertgebouw more to the order
of the English Chamber Orchestra. The contrapuntals in the G Major last
movement and the witty fusion of sonata-rondo in the E-flat Symphony
finale each enjoy a diaphanous, lighthearted character. What I
like about the Davis sway in Haydn are his emphases on those passing or
even long-held dissonances which are rife in the bucolic nature of
Haydn’s earthy sensibility. The homogeneity of orchestral patina,
the fluidity of the individual parts, as in the BBC flute and wind
development in Beethoven’s Andante cantabile con moto, played at
precisely Beethoven’s indicated tempo, testify to the elegant
discipline of Davis’ color line. Nice horns and tympani in the
Beethoven Menuetto. The subordinate liens in Beethoven’s Finale: Vivace
emerge in a way neither precious nor overinflated, much like I first
noted them under Bruno Walter. I find it hard to believe these Davis
inscriptions are thirty years old. Smooth sailing, indeed.
–Gary Lemco
