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The best period-instrument Eroica you've never heard...

Posted by C.B. on March 23, 2011 at 08:56:54

This one's also for Chris from Lafayette, since the ugly topic of vibrato/non-vibrato has come up once again.

I think the performance on this LP, which has never been re-released on CD and probably will never be, is one of most exciting I've ever heard--right up there with Toscanini, Szell, and all the rest.

Salient features:

1. Correct tempo in the first movement--not the mad dash of so many HIP performances of late. The music retains its "heroic" quality as a result.

2. Ideal balance between strings and winds. In Beethoven's day the wind component roughly equaled the strings--it should be strong, especially the horns (see below) and--surprise--the trumpets, which have limited but important parts in this symphony. As Weingartner said, the trumpets have less to say in Classical scores than the other winds, but when they do speak, they must be heard. Often the trumpets are in dialog with the horns, or with the first violins (1st mvnt), and this effect is often lost.

3. Authentic overall tonality. The strings play with vibrato (Chris should like this), but that's really beside the point. Once you get used to the less massive sound of the group, there is a warmth and glow to the sound that to me is very "Viennese". The oboes solos are lovely; the wooden flute, while not as loud and penetrating as the modern flute, is appropriately "German". Modern-day French woodwind can be quite beautiful-sounding, but they are somehow out of place in Beethoven's music. One major fault: the Collegium Aureum in this recording only has two cellos; more "bottom end" is needed.

4. The three horns in the Eroica have an especially important role, and you won't hear better playing ANYWHERE, even considering that these are natural (hand) horns. The 3rd movement trio is done "balls to the wall", while the coda of the last movement, where the horns lead the charge, is brazen as hell.

The orchestra plays without a conductor, but my guess is that they're so steeped in the "tradition" of the piece that they don't need one. There is a corporate interpretation here, the product of generations of German music-making, that feels exactly right. It hardly matters that they're playing old instruments.

I wish I could say, order this recording on Amazon or ArchiveMusic, but unfortunately, that's not possible. If you see this in a garage or estate sale, snap it up immediately.

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