BaL 5.11.11 Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 Building a Library: John Deathridge with a personal recommendation from the available recordings of Beethoven's Symphony no.6 ('Pastoral')

Available versions:

Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Arturo Toscanini
BBC SO, Arturo Toscanini
NBC SO. Arturo Toscanini
RIA SO Turin, Victor De Sabata
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Sinfonia Varsovia, Yehudi Menuhin
NDR Symphony Orchestra, Günter Wand
Vienna Philharmonic, Christian Thielemann
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Franz Konwitschny
Willem Van Otterloo
Rudolf Kempe
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev
Anima Eterna, Jos van Immerseel
Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul Kletzki
Staatskapelle Dresden, Sir Colin Davis
Hanover Band, Roy Goodman
Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, John Nelson
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras
Pro Musica Symphony de Vienne, Jascha Horenstein
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Hans Pfitzner
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner
London Symphony Orchestra, Wyn Morris
Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Philippe Herreweghe
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Riccardo Chailly
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras
Orchestre et Choeur de la Francophonie, Jean-Phillipe Tremblay
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Hermann Scherchen
Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Edlinger
La Chambre Philharmonique, Emmanuel Krivine
Berliner Philharmoniker, André Cluytens
New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, George Szell
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, Willem Mengelberg
Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia, Bela Drahos
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Charles Münch
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch
Berliner Philharmoniker, Carl Schuricht
Staatskapelle Dresden, Herbert Blomstedt
Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Tamás Vásáry
Budapest Philharmonic, Stephen Pomerantz
New York Chamber Symphony, Gerard Schwarz
Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Felix Weingartner
Wiener Philharmoniker, Bruno Walter
New York Philharmonic, Bruno Walter
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler (3 versions)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furtwangler
RAI Rome & Turin, Wilhelm Furtwängler
London Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer (3 versions)
Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Orchestre Philharmonique de Berlin, Otto Klemperer
Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik
Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Royal Phiharmonic Orchestra, Marc Ermler
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Erich Kleiber
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Erich Kleiber
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Kleiber
Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, Erich Kleiber
Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Paavo Järvi
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Haydn Orchestra Of Bolzano And Trento, Gustav Kuhn
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnanyi
Chamber Orchestra of Basel, Giovanni Antonini
Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Bertrand de Billy
Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Hermann Abendrot
Musica Viva Orchestra Moscow, Alexander Rudin
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
London Symphony Orchestra, Yondani Butt
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano della RAI, Sergiu Celibidache
Münchner Philharmoniker, Sergiu Celibidache
Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Carlos Kleiber
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Evgeny Mravinsky
New Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon
Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, David Zinman
Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Peter Maag
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt
Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Kurt Masur
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Kurt Sanderling
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan (5 versions)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Philippe Herreweghe
Manchester Camerata, Douglas Boyd
RSO Stuttgart, Roger Norrington
London Classical Players, Sir Roger Norrington
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer
Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle
Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend
Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado

arr. Liszt
Idil Biret
Konstantin Scherbakov


DVD
Wiener Philharmoniker, Christian Thielemann
Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein
Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert Von Karajan
Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
SWR-Sinfonieorchester, Michael Gielen
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Michael Halasz
Orchestre de Radio-Canada, Igor Markevitch

[Caliban]

Excellent, it will be interesting to see how my Cluytens/BPO version fares, in the set newly acquired thanks to the Dvorak 8 thread

Cluytens's "Pastoral" seems to be regarded as one of the very best.

I have always clung to Bruno Walter with the Columbia SO - it breathes and flows and sings like no other I've heard, and there's something about the way he shapes the very first phrase, with a slight pause after, that's like opening a door and taking in the first lungful of fresh spring morning air...

Ahem, I wax lyrical.

The French CD critics programme considered the piece last year. The blind tasting consisted of 7 versions, Kleiber fils being chosen as the best:

VERSION NO 1
Orchestre Philharmonique de Berlin
Direction : Claudio Abbado
[Enregistré à l’Académie Nationale de Sainte-Cécile de Rome en février 2001]
DGG 00289 477 5864

VERSION NO 2
Orchestre Philharmonique de Vienne
Direction : Wilhelm Furtwängler
[Enregistré au Musikverein de Vienne, les 24 et 25 novembre 1952]
EMI CDH 7 630342 MONO

VERSION NO 3
Orchestre du Concertgebouw d’Amsterdam
Direction : Erich Kleiber
[Enregistré au Concertgebouw d’Amsterdam, en 1952]
DECCA 417 637-2 MONO

VERSION NO 4 VERSION CHOISIE****
Orchestre de l’Etat de Bavière
Direction : Carlos Kleiber
[Enregistré en concert à l’Opéra d’Etat de Bavière à Munich, le 7 novembre 1983]
ORFEO C 600 031 B

VERSION NO 5
Orchestre de Chambre d’Europe
Direction : Nikolaus Harnoncourt
[Enregistré à la Stefaniensaal de Graz (Autriche) le 1er juillet 1990]
TELDEC 2292-46452

VERSION NO 6
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
Direction : John Eliot Gardiner
[Enregistré à Londres en octobre 1992]
ARCHIV/DGG 439 900

VERSION NO 7 VERSION EXCELLENTE***
Orchestre de la Tonhalle de Zurich
Direction : David Zinman
[Enregistré à la Tonhalle de Zurich les 25 et 26 mars 1997]
ARTE NOVA 74321 49695

The Carlos Kleiber did indeed sound pretty spiffing but I wasn't tempted to invest over and above my beloved Bruno Walter

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It should be interesting, as the reviewer is something of a Beethoven expert.
Of the recordings I own, I have a particular affection for the VPO/Abbado.

[Biffo]

There are so many excellent Pastorals available it is odd (perverse?) of the French critics to choose C Kleiber, you only have to listen to his father for a better performance. If pushed I would say Bohm but probably only out of habit, he might be a bit on the slow side for modern tastes. Like Caliban I have a strong affection for Walter/Columbia (coupled with an equally good No 4). In the recent much discussed Chailly set the Pastoral is one of the highlights but I don't much care for what I have heard of the rest. Cluytens is also excellent.

[silvestrione]

I am left almost speechless that CD Review are doing the 'Pastoral' again, when I can remember some of the detail of the last programme, it was so recent (for example, the VPO/Bohm was only not chosen because of a bad edit; Abbado's Berlin BPO version was chosen), and they have still not done the 'Eroica' for, it must be at least over 25 years.

Nevertheless I shall be all ears. My favourites are Karajan EMI Philharmonia, and the Toscanini live version with BBC Sym. Have a soft spot for Furtwangler's post war performance, very slow and heartfelt.

[silvestrione]

I am left almost speechless that CD Review are doing the 'Pastoral' again, when I can remember some of the detail of the last programme, it was so recent (for example, the VPO/Bohm was only not chosen because of a bad edit; Abbado's Berlin BPO version was chosen), and they have STILL not done the 'Eroica' for, it must be at least over 25 years.

Nevertheless I shall be all ears. My favourites are Karajan EMI Philharmonia, and the Toscanini live version with BBC Sym. Have a soft spot for Furtwangler's post war performance, very slow and heartfelt.

[Barbirollians]

That was a lousy BAL as I remember - Bohm and Klemperer airily dismissed and far too much Zinman ! so maybe that is why they are doing it again .

I suggest they get RO in to do the Eroica especially after his response to the Chailly .

Bohm , Boult, Cluytens and Furtwangler for me . Though I hear very good reports of the Kletzki .

[verismissimo]

My favourites are Karajan EMI Philharmonia, and the Toscanini live version with BBC Sym.

Did Toscanini do a live recording of 6 with BBCSO?

The one I have is 1937, recorded, I think, under studio conditions by HMV at Queen's Hall. But I could be wrong about that?

What a wonderful performance it is!

[Caliban]

they have STILL not done the 'Eroica' for, it must be at least over 25 years.

If that is right it's a great pity and I would love them to cover the 'Eroica'. Rather surprising that they didn't take the opportunity of a "tie-in" with the re-screening of the film on BBC4...

[Caliban]

There are so many excellent Pastorals available it is odd (perverse?) of the French critics to choose C Kleiber

Not that perverse, it seems. Most interesting to hear John Deathridge's agreement with the French critics. That Kleiber performance seems to have a magic which transcends the 'home-made' audio quality.

I enjoyed this BAL a lot. Indeed I was wondering if Mr D stalks these virtual corridors and had read:

... it might be considered more helpful if the reviewer could point out those that are absolute stinkers and to be avoided at all costs, the remainder being judged as recommendable

Seriously, though....

The reviewer appeared to have taken that suggestion very seriously, and I thought it was illuminating to single out some "stinkers" as he did and explain why. (Just imagine the Rattle gurning that must have accompanied that mawkish reading of the 'cuckoo clock' section ).

And an interesting traversal of the historic recordings from the 30s - 50s (Scherchen's tempo for the first movement! ). I would have appreciated extracts from Gardiner and even Norrington, because even though the scholarship might have "moved on", I don't find either the Krivine or the Immerseel very inspired. The latter always seems to be a limp rag to me (sorry Vodka...).

Well I shall try and set the Monday broadcast of the Kleiber to record and hear it from end to end. I shan't be dumping Bruno W though and good to hear an accolade for the Cluytens, as it's in the post...