Simfonies 1, 2, 3, 4 JORDI SAVALL "An impressive recording" "Jordi Savall démontre une The Classic Review compréhension profonde du massif beethovénien ; il en révèle les équilibres singuliers” Classique News "L'enregistrement de l'année de Beethoven" MERKUR "It’s the organic nature of Savall’s conception that makes it stand head and shoulders above this year’s crop of Fifths" Limelight, EDITOR'S CHOICE "La perfección en estas grabaciones es difícil de comentar. La música está viva y coleando" POLITIKEN "A really first-class recording" Classical Candor 10/2/2021 Review | Gramophone BEETHOVEN Symphonies Nos 1-5 (Savall) Follow us View record and artist details Author: Peter Quantrill We know a lot about how Beethoven composed at the keyboard, and right from the clipped, slashed and rolled tutti chords of the First Symphony’s opening-movement Allegro, all weighted according to context by Le Concert des Nations, there’s a fine and rare sense of how his thinking transferred itself to an orchestral canvas. Made under studio conditions in the church of a medieval Catalonian fortress, these recordings BEETHOVEN enjoy plenty of string bass colour and timpani impact without Symphonies Nos 1-5 swamping the liveliest inner-part debates between solo winds (Savall) or divided-violin combat. Symphony No. 1 ‘Enjoy’ is the word for the set as a whole. The tempos are largely Beethoven’s own, at least according to the metronome Symphony No. 2 marks he retrospectively applied in 1809 to all the symphonies Symphony No. 3, he had composed up to that point, but almost no 'Eroica' interpretative decision feels insisted upon, no expressive horizon foreshortened by a ready-made frame. The Second is a Symphony No. 4 particular success, its long Larghetto moulded by Savall’s cultivation of a genuine pianissimo and some rosy-hued Symphony No. 5 contributions from clarinets and horns. Without resort to opera buffa stereotypes, the Scherzo and finale take a genial tone Listen on Apple Music while hinting at might and resolve in reserve: Prince Hal to the Eroica’s Henry V. Judged by the highest standards – Carlos Kleiber live in Munich (Orfeo, 6/85), Frans Brüggen live in Rotterdam (Glossa, 1/13) – the pathos of the Fourth’s Adagio is slightly hemmed in by the happy tick-tocking of its opening phrases, and the crescendo up-beat at 0'25" is quite crudely done, but Savall establishes a powerful tension between martial and lyrical modes that anticipates the weightier contrasts of the Fifth’s Andante con moto and more immediately discharges its accumulated energy into a tautly sprung account of the Scherzo, so that – Beethoven’s influence on symphonic Schubert and Bruckner writ large – the only point of genuine repose in the symphony arrives with the bucolically relaxed Trio. As for the Eroica and the Fifth – which Savall originally programmed in harness, remarkably without compromising either the reach of the Funeral March or the elated new dawn of the Fifth’s finale – I fancy that no Toscanini devotee will find themselves short-changed by the remorselessly pursued logic of the Third’s gigantic opening panel, just as Furtwängler admirers will appreciate the uncanny space, the storm and the stress of the Fifth’s repeat-heavy Scherzo, while enjoying some turns of phrase that are all Savall’s own as well as a pair of tiny but telling violin tremolos (6'54") in the build-up to the finale that pass for nothing on almost every other recording. And, https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/beethoven-symphonies-nos-1-5-savall 1/3 10/2/2021 Review | Gramophone mercifully, Savall’s contrabassoonist is unafflicted by the noisy key action that disfigures the Currentzis recording at this point (Sony, 4/20). In fact I note that she (Katalin Sebella) manufactures her own reeds and, like several other members of Le Concert des Nations including the assistant leader Manfredo Kraemer, has long experience with other period-instrument luminaries in this repertoire such as the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt. But there is no mistaking the exercise of Savall’s collegiate authority over these superbly articulate new recordings, which are far more finished articles than his previous essays at Nos 3 and 5 (Auvidis, 7/97), nor the far-ranging imagination informed by exploring musical regions as distant as Sufi chant and Celtic fiddle tunes, applied now to the most central repertoire of all. If the pandemic does not put paid to the planned second volume, the completed set should rank alongside Brüggen and Mackerras (Hyperion, A/07) among the most distinguished Beethoven cycles of the new century. Gramophone Print Print Edition From £6.45 / month Subscribe The Gramophone Digital Club Digital Edition Digital Archive Reviews Database Events & Offers From £8.75 / month Subscribe The Gramophone Club Print Edition Digital Edition https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/beethoven-symphonies-nos-1-5-savall 2/3 10/2/2021 Rezension Jordi Savall – Beethoven: Sinfonien Nr. 1-5 Startseite > Rezensionen > Gipfel der Sinfonik Gipfel der Sinfonik REZENSION JORDI SAVALL – BEETHOVEN: SINFONIEN NR. 1-5 Gipfel der Sinfonik Jordi Savall und Le Concert des Nations lassen Beethovens Sinfonien völlig neuartig erklingen. Von Frank Armbruster, 20. August 2020 Man sollte schon gute Gründe haben, um ausgerechnet im Beethovenjahr eine Neueinspielung der neun Sinfonien vorzulegen. Der Katalane Jordi Savall, das darf man nach der Veröffentlichung der ersten fünf Sinfonien konstatieren, hat gute Gründe. Nun ist es ja keineswegs so, dass es an Aufnahmen dieser Klassiker mit Originalinstrumenten mangeln würde. Doch was man auch zum Vergleich heranzieht: Die Aufnahmen von Gardiner, Brüggen oder Norrington, auch die von Herre weghe erreichen nicht die artikulatorische und klangfarbliche Differenziertheit von Savalls handverlesenem Ensemble. Das ist Sinfonik aus dem Geist der Kammermusik. Auch wenn die Formulierung abgegriffen erscheint: Hier meint man vieles wirklich „wie zum ersten Mal“ zu hören. Die oft nur behauptete Parität von Bläsern und Streichern erscheint hier unter maßgeblicher Beteiligung der präzis-trockenen Pauke erreicht. Vor allem aber überwältigt eine auf kleinsten Motiven aufbauende rhythmische Stringenz, die manchmal, im Finale der Fünften etwa, den Hörer fast orkangleich mitzureißen vermag. Auch klangtechnisch sind die Hybrid-SACDs grandios! © David Ignaszewski https://www.concerti.de/rezensionen/jordi-savall-beethoven-sinfonien-nr-1-5/ 1/7 10/2/2021 Review: Beethoven - Symphonies No. 1-5 - Savall (2020) LATEST POSTS Review: “Contralto” – Nathalie Stutzmann, Orfeo 55 (https://theclassicreview.com/album-reviews/review-contralto-nathalie- stutzmann-orfeo-55/) (https://twitter.com/review_classic) (https://www.instagram.com/the_classic_review/) (https://www.facebook.com/theclassicreview) (https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-classic-review/) An all classical music blog THE CLASSIC REVIEW (HTTPS://THECLASSICREVIEW.COM/) (https://theclassicreview.com/) ALBUM REVIEWS (HTTPS://THECLASSICREVIEW.COM/CATEGORY/ALBUM-REVIEWS/) Review: Beethoven – Symphonies No. 1-5 – Le Concert des Nations, Savall David A. McConnell (https://theclassicreview.com/author/david-a-mcconnell/) - August 23, 2020 (https://theclassicreview.com/album-reviews/review-beethoven-symphonies-no-1-5-le-concert-des-nations- savall/) https://theclassicreview.com/album-reviews/review-beethoven-symphonies-no-1-5-le-concert-des-nations-savall/ 1/13 10/2/2021 Review: Beethoven - Symphonies No. 1-5 - Savall (2020) Many labels are celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth this year by releasing new Beethoven (https://theclassicreview.com/tag/Beethoven/) symphony recordings into an overwhelmingly crowded market. Harmonia Mundi is trying to ensure its cycle stands out by recording dierent performing groups and pairing Beethoven’s symphonies with others by lesser-known composers (see “related reviews” below). Savall and his players, however, are releasing the nine symphonies with no other bells and whistles – this is the rst of two volumes, with the rst ve Symphonies. One wonders what, if anything, this new recording can oer that is not already available in one of the 150-plus currently available cycles. Purchase on Amazon (https://amzn.to/2EjFU1N) beethoven symphonies- no-1-5-l(eht-tps://w By Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall (Audio CD - Aug 7, 2020) concert-des- $52.99 nations- savall%2F&slotN Rated 4.6 out of 5 by 53 reviewers on Amazon.com https://theclassicreview.com/album-reviews/review-beethoven-symphonies-no-1-5-le-concert-des-nations-savall/ 2/13 10/2/2021 Review: Beethoven - Symphonies No. 1-5 - Savall (2020) As Tal Agam mentioned in his review (https://theclassicreview.com/album-reviews/review- mozart-symphonies-no-39-41-jordi-savall/) of these forces’ recording of Mozart’s last 3 Symphonies, Le concert des Nations’ sound is more heterogeneous than what we hear in other period instruments cycles by Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (Gardiner/Archiv) or La Chambre Philharmonique (Krivine/Naïve). The agile strings dispatch Beethoven’s many technical challenges with collective ease. Winds are balanced equally with the strings; the brass can really roar (just listen to the beginning of the Fifth Symphony’s last movement), but just as often it is their coloristic sensitivity that impresses. Timpani have tremendous weight and power. Recorded in the resonant acoustic of their usual recording venue, Collégiale du Château de Cardona (Catalogne), the full orchestra sound has a visceral immediacy. Savall and the orchestra carefully honor the dynamic and articulation markings within each score (Savall writes in the program notes that they consulted the original manuscripts as well as the newest urtext editions). They also provide transparency to Beethoven’s polyphony, allowing us to hear Beethoven’s marvelous inner lines. Examples of characterful playing are many: the teasing scale that begins the nal movement of the rst; the gru chords and accents in the second symphony’s Scherzo; the gorgeous singing tone of the violins and woodwinds in the fourth symphony’s slow movement. Related Classical Music Reviews Review: Beethoven – Symphony No.