This morning, Day 19 of my exploration of Beethoven’s symphonies, starts a new chapter: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, which was composed between 1801 and 1802.
So here I sit at New Beginnings restaurant, listening to Beethoven’s composition while (or whilst if you’re British) I eat a Mexican chicken omelette complete with jalapenos and doused with enough hot sauce (Frank’s Red Hot as well as Tabasco) to make my eyes water and give me cramps for the rest of the day. When I eat, I like to involve as many of my senses as I possibly can.
The conductor (of the symphony, not the omelette) is Claudio Abbado, whom I first heard on July 21st.
The orchestra is the Berliner Philharmoniker, which I heard on Day 1 as well.
The record label is the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon, known around the world for its distinctive yellow logo and its reputation for excellence.
From his bio on Wikipedia:
Claudio Abbado (26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor. One of the most celebrated and respected conductors of the 20th century, particularly in the music of Gustav Mahler, he served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera, founder and director of Lucerne Festival Orchestra, music director of European Union Youth Orchestra and principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra.
Of the symphony itself, here’s Wikipedia’s take on the subject:
The Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36, is a symphony in four movements written by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1801 and 1802. The work is dedicated to Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky.
Background
Beethoven’s Second Symphony was mostly written during Beethoven’s stay at Heiligenstadt in 1802, at a time when his deafness was becoming more pronounced and he began to realize that it might be incurable. The work was premiered in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 5 April 1803, and was conducted by the composer. During that same concert, the Third Piano Concerto and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives were also debuted. It is one of the last works of Beethoven’s so-called “early period”.
Beethoven wrote the Second Symphony without a standard minuet; instead, a scherzo took its place, giving the composition even greater scope and energy. The scherzo and the finale are filled with Beethovenian musical jokes, which shocked the sensibilities of many contemporary critics. One Viennese critic for the Zeitung fuer die elegante Welt (Newspaper for the Elegant World) famously wrote of the Symphony that it was “a hideously writhing, wounded dragon that refuses to die, but writhing in its last agonies and, in the fourth movement, bleeding to death.”
It’s been an interesting morning so far (which is a good thing because Beethoven’s Second is boring me to tears). A scrawny young squirrel appeared at our slider window and taunted our cat, Larry, for about a half an hour.
I was amused. But I don’t think Larry was. The squirrel was, at times, an inch from his face. But he was powerless to make contact because of the glass door between them.
I don’t know what the squirrel wanted (food, most likely). But I’ve never seen one that fearless, totally unafraid of both me and our cat.
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this one (Symphony No. 2 in D Major), from this particular conductor (Abbado, at age 68) and this particular orchestra (Berliner Philharmoniker), at this particular time in history (February 2001) on this particular record label (Deutsche Grammophon) is as follows:
I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio………………………………………………………………12:14
II. Larghetto………………………………………………………………………………………………….10:50
III. Scherezo. Allegro – Trio……………………………………………………………………………4:25
IV. Allegro molto…………………………………………………………………………………………….8:02
Total running time: 35:31
The Berlin Philharmonic is one of the best in the world, according to its entry on Wikipedia:
The Berlin Philharmonic (German: Berliner Philharmoniker) is a German orchestra based in Berlin.
In 2006, ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of “top ten European Orchestras”, after the Vienna Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, while in 2008 it was voted the world’s number two orchestra in a survey among leading international music critics organized by the British magazine Gramophone (behind the Concertgebouw). The BPO supports several chamber music ensembles.
The Berlin Philharmonic was founded in Berlin in 1882 by 54 musicians…
Those are the facts, Jack. Now, how did they sound to my ears?
My Rating:
Recording quality: 3 (sounds a little flat to my ears, no real highs or lows…and not many dynamic passages)
Overall musicianship: 4 (supremely competent; yet, not inspired)
CD liner notes: 4 (liner notes consist of all necessary technical detail, plus an essay about Abbado’s approach to conducting Beethoven, translated into E/G/F/I)
How does this make me feel: 3 (a definite “meh”)
I can’t tell if I’m bored because I don’t like Beethoven’s Second, or if this particular performance lacks the punch needed to shake the cobwebs from my mind.
The First Movement, where it ought to be powerfully punchy in the dynamic passages, is listless under the hand of Abbado. The whole performance sounds uninspired, more technically accurate than emotionally moving.
I certainly hope the other 17 conductors to whom I’ll listen in this leg of my journey do a better job. If not, then I know it’s me, either not liking Beethoven’s Second…or being too full of Mexican omelette with heart-burning hot sauce atop to appreciate anything less than eye-stinging and gut churning.
By the way, here’s an approximation of what I heard this morning. It’s the same conductor and the same orchestra. But the sound is compressed, posted at a very low-resolution bit rate. So it’s not as dynamic as what I heard. Still, this is Beethoven’s Second conducted by Abbado and performed by the Berlin Philharmonic.