Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 "Choral"

Album review

Even though Bernard Haitink's 2006 recording with the London Symphony Orchestra of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, "Choral," is live, taken from a concert at London's Barbican, listeners will be pleased to discover that it is phenomenally well recorded in direct stream digital, and that there are virtually no background noises or other aberrations to distract. Concerning the interpretation, Haitink has adopted an approach that is neither burdened with the weightiness and excessive reverence of older recordings, nor obsessed with issues of period style and authentic instrumentation. It's good to hear this symphony in several different readings to get an idea of the range of possibilities; but if you can only hear this one, it conveys the piece with accuracy, clarity, and confidence, and should appeal to most tastes. All of the parts are easily discerned, the playing is spot-on, and the orchestra's expression is finely balanced between Dionysian fury, as in the first movement and the Scherzo, and Apollonian grace, as in the elegant Adagio. The Finale is perhaps the most compelling movement of the performance, with Gerald Finley's stirring bass recitative, John MacMaster's heroic tenor solo, and the staggering choral sections sung by the London Symphony Chorus in all its majesty. Taken altogether, this recording is a remarkable achievement for being live, and if it is not the most sublime Ninth of all, then it is at least an outstanding presentation that belongs in any CD collection.
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