Beethoven, L. van: Symphony No. 9

Album review

In the 2000s, Philippe Herreweghe recorded for the label Pentatone the entirety of Beethoven’s symphonies with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic under the senior artistic direction of Andreas Neubronner at Tritonus studios. Recorded in Anvers, Belgium in October 2009, this last section calls on several vocal soloists for the finale (Christiane Oelze, Ingeborg Danz and David Wilson-Johnson) with whom the Flemish conductor had collaborated regularly for some years starting with Bach’s cantatas. What we are presented with here is a kind of intimate Beethoven, this Beethoven remains generally calm, despite the occasional unconventional streak (but less so than with Brüggen or Gardiner), particularly light textures (Adagio molto e cantabile), and lively phrases. With Philippe Herrewegh, Beethoven never leaves the 18th century and the dancing spirit he works into his interpretation (Finale, notably the introduction) weaves in the watermarks of close links to composers from previous generations. © Qobuz