Mengelberg Conducts Beethoven 4

On this CD:

1. Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam
Conducted by Willem Mengelberg

2. Symphony No. 6 in F major ("Pastoral") Op. 68
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam
Conducted by Willem Mengelberg

Customer Reviews:

No more cookie-cutter Beethoven!.......2000-07-16

Being that there are so many faceless and characterless Beethoven sets on the CD market today, this set comes as a refreshing reminder of the days when interpreters were INVOLVED with the music they played! Yes, these are individualistic performances, but as in the case of Furtwaengler, this is the work of a thinker, a seeker who is not afraid of personal committment to the works he performs. And in fact, all of his tempo modifications seem to naturally arise from the ebb and flow of the music itself, rather than being imposed upon it. I find these Telefunken renditions much superior both in sound and in interpretation to the live Beethoven recordings on Music and Arts (formerly on Philips), which seemed unnatural and mannered in comparison to the smooth integration of tempi on the Pearl set. If you listen to this set at one sitting, I suggest you save the "Eroica" for the last, as this is one of the two or three greatest accounts of the score. By contrast, his older version with the NY Philharmonic on Biddulph sounds hopelessly stodgy, and the sound on that recording is wretchedly poor. The whole Pearl set is a real treasure, and here's hoping that the rest of Mengelberg's Telefunken recordings find their way to CD.

unique and gripping.......2000-03-18

Mengelberg is sometimes guilty of "changements" in his interpretations. But he invariably delivers. His Beethoven Symphonies set (excluding the 9th)is in remarkably clear sound for prewar recordings - thanks to Obert-Thorn whose only rival is probably Marston. Mengelberg`s tempos are generally brisk and intense. Mostly,he is faithful to the printed score. But he does take liberties. He is less expansive than Klemperer but he does succeed convincingly with such a well-trained orchestra which he ruled for 50 years!This CD set together with the currently available Music & Arts 9th Symphony and 5th/6th on Teldec are highly recommended. But beware that the latter Teldec 5th is from 1942 and not 1937 according to the liner notes in this Pearl set.

Mengelberg Conducts Beethoven & Schubert

Average customer rating:

Mengelberg serves up Beethoven and Schubert.
Mahler's First Booster Plays Beethoven & Schubert

Mengelberg Conducts Beethoven & Schubert

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

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Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Bach: St. Matthew Passion

ASIN: B0000AE7AM
Release Date: 2003-08-19

Customer Reviews:

Mengelberg serves up Beethoven and Schubert........2003-12-24

The great Dutch conductor Willem Mengelberg would often justify his so-called "changements" to Beethoven scores by saying, "Don't argue with me - I am the best pupil of the best pupil of Beethoven". There are very few "changements" evident in these famous recordings, so well presented in this Naxos issue. A figure that occurs for the first time in the "Coriolan" Overture at about one minute in is always stretched out for an extra beat whenever it occurs. The "Turkish March" is played through twice, as it was in an earlier recording by the same forces made in 1930. Otherwise everything is as the composers indicated in their scores, and performed and recorded in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw probably with more precision, excitement and impact than they ever dreamed possible.

Mahler's First Booster Plays Beethoven & Schubert.......2003-10-04

Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951) was the long-time conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra--and briefly, until wrangling sent him back to Holland in 1931, the co-conductor, with Toscanini, of the New York Philharmonic--who among Mahlerians is well-loved because he was the first conductor of note to take up the music of Gustav Mahler. His only Mahler recording, sadly, was a single performance of the the Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony, already available on an earlier Naxos CD in their Mengelberg series, an extraordinarily good transfer from 78 rpm discs.

This disc gives us an opportunity to hear him shorter pieces of the central Germanic repertoire, and since Amazon has not yet posted the contents of this disc I'll do so now:

Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus Overture, Allegretto and Finale; Coriolan Overture; Leonore Overtures Nos. 1 & 3; Egmont Overture; the second movement Scherzo of the 8th Symphony; 'Turkish March' from The Ruin of Athens.

Schubert: Marche militaire, Op. 51, No. 1; Rosamunde Overture.

All are with his own orchestra, the Concertgebouw, and make no mistake about it--this orchestra was in superlative condition during the fourteen year period, 1927-1942, over which these recordings were made, although by 1942, when the Marche militaire and the Turkish March were recorded, most of the Jewish members of the orchestra were gone and there is some indication of a falling off of instrumental ensemble. Also, those later recordings are in somewhat muffled sound as compared to those even from the 1920s; perhaps it has something to do with the War. Still, transfer engineer Mark Obert-Thorn has done his usual sterling job. Generally the sound is better than one could have wished. I grew up with a 78 rpm pressing of this Coriolan Overture and it seems to me that this transfer is clearer than what I remember from all those years ago.

Mengelberg was a meticulous conductor; his rehearsals were widely known in musical circles as exhaustively detailed and sometimes exasperating for the musicians. Still reports are that his orchestra loved and respected him. He was sometimes criticized, particularly in the era that followed his heyday, as being too wayward or romantic in his interpretations. These performances put the lie to that assessment. These are fairly straightforward readings, although there is sensitive shaping of the material. Only once did I feel he was a little eccentric, and that was in that most 'mechanical' of Beethoven movements, the Scherzo from the Eighth Symphony with its ticking harmonic accompaniment. Here, he makes rather too much of the dynamic contrasts. Still, this is nothing like as wayward as that of, say, Karajan in his last recording of the Eighth when he smoothed out ALL contrast.

I particularly liked the First Leonore Overture, partly because Mengelberg and his merry band play it as if it is great music, not just an also-ran. And it was a delight to hear more of the Prometheus music than just the Overture, including the third of the pieces (the Allegretto) Beethoven wrote that contains the theme used in the Eroica Symphony and the Eroica Variations for piano.

Best of all, though, are the dramatic overtures: Coriolan, Egmont, and Leonore No. 3. These are masculine, forceful, emotionally engaging performances in more than acceptable sound. And I can't quit before I extol the beauty and grace of the Schubert Rosamunde Overture.

These are not performances that should be anyone's only recordings of them, obviously, because of the limited recording techniques available at the time. But they are valuable documents from a great conductor's legacy.

TT=68:30

Scott Morrison

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