With this new release, Harmonia Mundi’s Beethoven symphony cycle is approaching the finish line – only symphonies 4 and 8 remain to be released. While a lion’s share of the symphonies was recorded by the Freiburger Barockorchester, the fifth symphony, released last year, features Roth and Les Siècles (reviewed here).
The opening of the first movement immediately signals that Roth has some different interpretative ideas. The strings arpeggiate the opening chords, weakening their hammer-like power. String chords are played this way throughout the work, an interesting choice that is ultimately unconvincing. The playing of Les Siècles is excellent, with orchestral balance carefully managed and winds well to the fore. Roth and his players pay close attention to articulation and dynamic markings. Their sound is impressively refined compared to other original instrument ensembles, though this is not always a good thing. While the performance honors Beethoven’s swift metronome mark, the reading posseses a lightness and sophistication that at times skirts the darker, more maniacal aspects of Beethoven’s music. For instance, Roth is intent on never allowing the trumpets to dominate the texture, so the searing dissonances at 7’56” are underwhelming compared to many original instrument and modern orchestra recordings. The performances by Anima Eterna Brugge/Immerseel and Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique/Gardiner both realize visceral ferocity of this music more completely.
Roth’s reading of the Funeral March is slower (14’28”) than many period performances (Savall 12’49”/Gardiner 12’41), but the tempo allows Roth to paint with a more varied orchestral palette, developing a darker, more forlorn atmosphere. Scrupulous attention to dynamics and articulation apear here as well, as does the fastidious care taken in clarifying Beethoven’s contrapuntal textures. Moreover, the orchestra plays with palpable emotional commitment. The fragmentation of the theme at the end is masterfully handled, the last bars deeply touching.
Related Classical Music Reviews
- Review: Beethoven – Symphony No. 5 – Les Siècles, Roth
- Review: Beethoven – Symphonies No. 1-5 – Le Concert des Nations, Savall
- Review: Beethoven – Symphonies No. 5 and 7 – NDR, Manze
The lean and graceful playing heard in the first movement reappears in the Scherzo. The music’s more disruptive aspects are again underplayed, but the brazen coloring of the horns in the trio section is thrilling. The final movement responds more favorably to Roth’s interpretative stance, each dazzling variation dispatched with a technical finesse and engaging brio that celebrates Beethoven’s brilliance. The variation that begins at 1’21” is played by solo strings, an option sanctioned by the Jonathan del Mar’s scholarly Beethoven edition. It is fascinating to hear such a different timbre and weight to the sound. Roth again arpeggiates each string chord, diminishing many climatic moments. The tempo of the Coda is surprisingly slow, but it does allow for greater clarity (the horns clearly articulate their fabulous lines) and a grandly noble conclusion. Yet it proves unsatisfactory because Roth seems unwilling to embrace the unbridled rowdiness of this music. Compare this to Savall’s recent recording (Reviewed here), in which the Coda, played very fast, brings a sense of wild jubilation that leaves the listener elated. Surely this is what Beethoven intends.
Mehul’s “Les Amazones” Overture is played with precision, passion, and a forcefulness of sound that would not have gone amiss in the main work. Roth and Les Siècles are passionate and persuasive advocates for this music, and it would be wonderful to hear them record more of this composer. Indeed, there is enough room on this CD to include one of Mehul’s symphonies, or at very least another overture. A total timing of under 55 minutes is rather stingy and non-competitive in today’s market.
Liner notes are excellent, although the short interview with Roth proves frustrating, because his vividly emotional descriptions of the symphony (“a musical tsunami” and “upheaval in the symphonic sphere”) are only fitfully realized in the actual performance. A true Beethovenian tsunami can be experienced in the recordings by Immerseel, and, more recently, Savall.
Beethoven – Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”)
Méhul – Overture: Les Amazones, ou La Fondation de Thèbes
Les Siècles
François-Xavier Roth – Conductor
Beethoven – Symphony No. 3 – Recommended Recordings
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