Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5

Presentación del Álbum

Integral collections of Beethoven’s work are coming thick and fast in the runup to 2020, the 250th anniversary of the immortal composer loved by all. Admittedly, when one is a fan, enough is never enough. But one wonders what the editors and labels will do in 2027 for the bicentenary of Beethoven’s death with a selection of musicians which is more or less the same as today’s… Since the invention of the CD, every conductor wants to leave their mark on history with their very own interpretation of the Nine Symphonies. There is nothing more exciting for critics and music lovers alike than following the different styles of each different interpretation. The path chosen by Arthur Nikisch is passionate but challenging; there is no linearity and apart from from the sound quality, there is no sense of evolution, a strange concept in art as everyone knows.

Each recording is the reflection of its time period with its stars, its unfairly overlooked artists and its followers of an exacerbated romanticism or a decanted, intellectual even abstract vision. Ivan Fischer’s version (Symphonies 1 & 5 here) is remarkable first and foremost thanks to the exceptional standard of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, founded in 1983 with his fellow countryman, the late Zoltan Kocsis. Made up of the best young musicians from the distinguished Hungarian conservatoires, this orchestra has quickly made a name for itself as a top tier European ensemble thanks to rigorous hard work, which involves the practice levels of an orchestra with the stringency of chamber music. The expert versatility of the strings, the character of the wind section, the power of the brass and the dancing, rhythmic bounce give this part of an integral work a very particular charm. © François Hudry/Qobuz