Very fine traditional interpretations
Christian Thielemann's readings of the first three Beethoven symphonies in splendid video and uncompressed audio are first-rate interpretations, though rather slow and painstakingly detail-focused. The Wiener Philharmoniker - at first in somewhat smaller complement, then, alas, in increasing strength - play exceedingly well, as can be expected. These are "traditional" interpretations, definitely not of the "historical" or "period" schools. Thielemann, however, is well aware of their accomplishments and he lets the woodwinds, brass and timpani (he often has hard sticks) shine through the rather dense strings fabric wherever he sees fit. I must admit that, after decades of listening (often uneasily) to "big band", bombastic, homogenized Beethoven, my ears opened wide with more recent developments. My reference recordings are: Norrington's 2002 Stuttgart Cycle (CD), Gielen (DVD) and, just recently discovered, Paavo Järvi's Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen cycle on DVD, which I...
He swings, he misses.
These are willful interpretations that - IMHO - say a lot about Christian Thielemann and, occasionally, something important about Ludwig van Beethoven as well.
The performances of these early symphonies themselves are episodic, to put it kindly. It's one thing to fail to successfully link the sections of a given symphonic movement together into a whole, thereby unwittingly allowing us hear the seams in a work. It's quite another thing to create seams where none previously existed. This is a real debit in Thielemann's overall approach to the earlier works, IMO, especially as his performances of the later symphonies reflect a more traditional and moderate (read: successful) approach to Beethoven.
In the plus column, Thielemann observes every repeat in every symphony, and the Vienna Philharmonic sounds wonderful throughout.
On to the works themselves:
Thielemann has no love and carries no brief for Symphonies 1 & 2. I get the feeling that CT...
A large scale 'traditional approach' done well but purists will find this a doubtful approach
This is, on the face of it, a very generous and tempting coupling of Beethoven's first three symphonies plus two overtures all on one disc. The recording company, C Major, is in my opinion one of the very best working today. As a result we get unfailingly excellent surround sound and high quality visuals with sympathetic and knowledgeable camera work. So what of the actual performances?
Thielemann is very much his own man in this important respect. What we have here is 'big band' Beethoven with a large modern orchestra. There is no effort made to reproduce in any way the sound world that Beethoven inhabited. The textures presented here are fuller and more luscious in contrast to the sparer and rawer sounds that 'authentic' instruments deliver. Thielemann favours a well upholstered sound world and for this he is much appreciated by his Viennese audiences. It will also appeal to all listeners at home who find the 'authentic' approach rather too lean for their taste...
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