Monday, March 16, 2009

Beethoven Sym. 8 by Paavo Jarvi & The DKP Bremen, 2009 at the Alice Tully Hall reopening festival


 A Spirited Symphony Eight, to say the least!



Beethoven, Ludwig van
Opus 93, Symphony no. 8 in F major

The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Paavo Jarvi, Conductor


March 2, 2009 at 7:30 (& 10:30)
Alice Tully Hall, NYC
Opening Nights Festival




Thanks to A. ( last name Nonymous) for the in-house recording

The Beethoven Symphonies have to be brought out now. Great performances are being tossed about and you've got to hear them! Here's a Symphony Eight, in a living, breathing, rousting version by The Deutche KammerPhilharmonie Bremen led by Estonian conductor Paavo Jarvi, who has CDs available now of these symphonies in must-get studio versions, recorded around 2006. The link (click this) takes you to the orchestra's own page to purchase in Euros, though the cycle is widely available elsewhere.

Mr. Jarvi, as in the studio and evidenced here (although in lesser sound quality), "...clearly prizes highly charged music making, often at top speed, with thoughtful phrasing and sharply punched accents. And the use of valveless trumpets; woodwinds with a bright, astringent sound; and hard timpani mallets, combined with a reduced string section, yielded unusual balances that revealed each score’s inner workings, usually without unreasonably skewing the balance between theme and accompaniment.

When the orchestra plays at its best, these qualities yield refreshing, powerful performances. That was consistently the case in the late-night concert, when the orchestra played hardest, perhaps in the vain hope of coaxing some reverberation from the hall..."

The reviewer goes on to describe the other symphonies played in this manner,- which describes the Eighth presented here as well- as

"... weaving threads of rustic playfulness into an overwhelmingly courtly fabric. But Mr. Jarvi and his players reconsidered that balance, making vehemence and drive absolute values and letting the courtly charm fend for itself. It was a risky approach, but it worked."
from The New York Times review of this concert,'The Mainstream Flows Into Alice Tully Hall and Is Hushed', by Allan Kozinn





24 comments:

Guillermo said...

http://www.mediafire.com/?n0swztmnctu

maready said...

Thank you again for reading my mind ... I am on a mission at the moment to listen to as many Beethoven 8ths as possible! It is a wonderful piece of work --- could it be Beethoven's greatest symphony? I am also glad you continue to post these concerts from New York. I know, it's reprehensible, I live in New York, but due to my agoraphobia, find it difficult to attend concerts. I also must thank you again for several postings of the NYPO, which I have dismissed out of hand during the Maazel (and Mehta and Mazur) eras. The broadcasts you have posted have been surprisingly lively, even though the programming continues to be confined to the old "warhorses". Thank you again for another LVB 8th to start the day with!

maready said...

Great sound! Dig the cello in the trio of the Menuetto!

Guillermo said...

And the gofer broke finale, with its sudden "what, I didn't do anything" ritardando turns- it's alot of fun. Thanks for sharing your feelings on this. I'm running about, wishing i could offer a more substantial response, but I'm listening, awake, enthused, and blasting it, too!


ps If you like jazz, that NYC concert in the blue CBOX at the top was a real scorcher

Anonymous said...

Thanks for uploading this wonderful, barn-storming performance. The in-house positioning creates delightful stereophonic effects (esp. with headphones) and casts light on details in the middle strings that I normally don't hear. Pärvi is truly one of the great conductors of our day.

maready said...

Yes indeed ... on headphones it has something of the bizarre clarity of a psychedelic experience. The only 8th I know wilder than this one is Hermann Scherchen's 1965 live Rome performance on an Accord CD. Good sound on that one too, if you ever happen upon it.

PS Guillermo --- The Joshua Redman?

glebowski said...

I read the above comments with great interest.I have made repeated attempts to access your download with no success. Your site looks fascinating .I would welcome advice on this problem
Thanks Geoff

glebowski said...

Thanks for the quick response. I have been copying/pasting but browser will not locate.Also I have pasted it into Google with no success. I am in UK .Perhaps some issue re access? I also went to the mediafire website and tried to paste it in the search box there but again it wont work! It is most odd! I am used to using the net for music downloads and have downloaded many items over the years.

Guillermo said...

Hang on a bit I'll have a solution shortly...

Guillermo said...

Maready, you never mentioned what you thought of the Redman concert...

wf said...

i did warn against the pull in Järvi's conducting, when posting his 3 Beethoven records (so far)in my blog last december. fantastic conducting and orchestral playing! i've just discovered his Beeth 1-3 on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Jarvi+Beethoven

Discobole said...

Maready, have you tried Munch's 8th?
at: http://quartier-des-archives.blogspot.com/2009/02/charles-munch-dirige-la-8e-symphonie-de.html
Enjoy!

Profites-en!

Guillermo said...

Yes! The early Charles Munch (of whose Beethoven performance my fanaticism is evident) is another must-have 8th!
and maready, your response has allayed and spoken my heart on these matters, I was just a bit paranoid that my contributions were having the inevitable side effect in an instance I was directly in contact with... call it the bystander effect.
Thank you.

maready said...

YES YES --- it was that very Munch 8th on Quartier des Archives that put me on my current LVB #8 listening-fest (and kept me from getting to Joshua Redman!) Glad to allay your fears, Guillermo, actually if you look in your archives, I believe the first comment I posted on Statework was in response to your upload of a Mozart "Symphonie Concertante". I made the guilty confession that I didn't think I had ever even listened to the piece before and that it was a revelation. After listening to the broadcast from here, I went out and bought Dumay/Hagen on DG and Suk/Skampa (?) on Supraphon. I really don't see a correlation between uploading unavailable broadcast material and so-called "sharity" sites featuring low-quality MP3s of in-print CDs. I might try out something I'm curious about, but as with upkerry's posting of Charles Uzor's CD on NEOS, if I'm really bowled over by something, I want the actual recording. You're talking to somebody who has about 5000 LPs, so I'm an inveterate collector of physical objects, and not about to give up until they pry my credit cards from my cold, dead hands ....

maready said...

P.S. Discobole, if you ARE Quartier des Archives, I must offer you a long overdue "Merci bien" for introducing me to the Lowenguth Quartet. The Schubert D804 of theirs started me on a similar marathon of Schubert quartet-listening. The first violinist in the first movement of their "Rosamunde" sends shiver up my spine. Thank you for the Beethoven Lowenguth as well. Your site is always at the top of my daily list. I used up all my French-language powers composing a comment for the "Paroles Gelees" Eduard Steuermann posting, and apologize for not thanking you on your site. I will rectify that in the future.

maready said...

P.S.S.S Again

ERRATA---- that was D810, and that was "Death in the Maiden". I am obviously speaking even faster than I am downloading! SO --- it's the Lowenguth in Schubert D810 that you will find at "Quartier des Archives", as well as their wonderful Beethoven. For a treat in the D804, and that spine-tingling first violin, try the Vegh Quartet posted by someone in the Classical Recordings Google group. From now on, I will think before posting, for my enthusiasm tends to get the better of me.

Guillermo said...

;)

Discobole said...

Maready, Discobole is the author of Paroles gelées,(check the profile on the left, with its wonderful Pathé sticker!). Discobole under the guise of Nephelibate is also the proud father of "Coucouville les Nuées", advertised on the left column as well.
I know from his comments that the author of "Quartier des Archives" is called Benoit. I don't know more about him, except he must be about my age, judging from his possessions and interests!
And you are welcome writing in English on my site.
I cannot find the Schubert quartet on google group.
Preparing posts takes time. An interesting one coming up soon! (on Paroles).
hem, btw, Guillermo, sorry for pursuing private conversations on your site!

Discobole said...

possessions, I meant goods

maready said...

Discobole: Here's the Vegh rosamunde link (assuming it still works):

http://www.mediafire.com/?dmvoweznn52

Thanks for helping me keep track of everyone involved (including you, Guillermo!)

Guillermo said...

I'm honored to be a (pseudo)host for this sort of thing!

Discobole said...

Hem, the Vegh Rosamunde material comes from Europarchiv. I think I can do better at cleaning it. We'll see when it appears on Paroles gelées... (Not so soon, a lot of stuff ready)

Guillermo said...

the tinyurl for B1JarviDKP will be "officially posted" soon, but to maready: sorry for the seemingly random excising of commentary. One of my beloved contributors of recordings wished anonimity; I'm sure you'll understand and support.

Guillermo said...

anonymity. sorry. Neanderthal spelling skills from hunger pangs.