OK, a bit of background first. For the reasons listed below, DG has just released a third complete Beethoven cycle from Abbado. The first one was with the VPO. The second one, performed by the BPO, was apparently deleted. Just read on further to get the facts straight. This is truly nutty, and I simply couldn't agree more with David's rhetorical comments near the end. If Polarius were still around, I guess he'd go nuts in defense of Abbado. One last comment from me: at the time that Abbado's first Berlin cycle was issued, I concured with David's preference for the Barenboim cycle on Teldec, performed by the Staatskapelle Berlin. Looks like this one may actually challenge the fine 1960's Karajan set (Karajan was always a tad too slick with the "Pastoral", but fine most everywhere else). Heeeeeere's David . . .
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Symphonies Nos. 1-9
Karita Mattila (soprano); Violeta Urmana (mezzo-soprano); Thomas Moser (tenor); Thomas Quasthoff (bass)
Swedish Radio Choir
Eric Ericson Chamber Choir
Berlin Philharmonic
Claudio Abbado
Deutsche Grammophon- 477 5864(CD)
Reference Recording - Vanska (BIS); Barenboim (Warner)
rating
This release contains the audio tracks from the live 2001 videos of Symphonies Nos. 1-8 that Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic made in Italy shortly after recording the entire cycle for DG in 2000. No. 9 is the older performance, now re-edited to conform to "Maestro Abbado's final interpretive wishes", or some nonsense to that effect. Abbado's previous cycle was boring; this one is mostly excellent.
The basic interpretations are the same: light, lively, chamber-like, and heavily influenced by "period" orthodoxy--quicker tempos, smaller forces, etc. But unlike his first attempt (actually his second complete cycle for DG), Abbado doesn't let his tendency to excessive refinement suck the juice out of the music. So now the finale of the Fifth has the necessary impact, the outer movements of the Seventh have more power and drive. Works that tend to bog down or suffer from excessive blandness, such as the "Eroica", Fourth, and "Pastoral", now sparkle and dance as they should. Abbado always delivered a very respectable Ninth, and this one remains so. In short, if you like Abbado and are sympathetic to his approach, this is certainly the set to own.
All of which raises a disturbing question. DG claims that the earlier set is now withdrawn (it's still listed as available from many retailers, at least online). What they have effectively done is issue a "recall" for artistic as opposed to technical defects. This being the case, why haven't they invited all those who purchased the previous set to turn it in for a free copy of the new one? After all, if someone invests upwards of $70 for a new Beethoven cycle at full price, and the artists then repudiate what they have done, why should the consumer take the hit? And why, we may well ask, did the artists approve the release in the first place when they must have known that it represented inferior work? Or is it the excellence of this set that's anomalous?
These questions illustrate why the classical recording industry so richly deserves to suffer for its incompetence, and for its outrageous treatment of consumers. Abbado has been one of the worst offenders in this respect. Remember his Rossini Viaggio, remade for Sony with some of the same cast as his award-winning DG recording? Remember how, when DG tried to issue a compilation called "Mahler Adagio" he went to court to prevent it, claiming that it violated the artistic integrity of his interpretations? Well Mr. Abbado, where is the integrity in this latest gambit?
There was a time when artists regarded the making of recordings as a time to set down for posterity mature thoughts on major works, and not just as a reflection of "how I feel about them this morning." If labels bemoan the fact that the real value of recordings by today's major artists is rapidly approaching zero, they have no one but themselves to blame, for that is the signal that they are sending. This is a fine Beethoven cycle, but the process of getting there has irredeemably cheapened Abbado's art and the business of making recordings.
--David Hurwitz
Topic: Wow! Interesting stuff from Dave re: Abbado's re-re-re-do of Beethoven (Read 3412 times)