Beethoven: Symphonies nos. 2&3 - Complete Symphonies vol. 4

Album review

Hearing Ludwig van Beethoven's symphonies played in period style is a common occurrence nowadays, because the movement for historically informed performances has profoundly influenced most classical musicians since the 1980s. Even a thoroughly modern symphony orchestra can adapt to the best scholarship and known practices, as Jan Willem de Vriend and the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra demonstrate in their performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in D major and the Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, "Eroica," on Challenge Classics. With the exception of 18th and 19th century brass instruments, the orchestra uses modern strings and woodwinds, so period style and techniques are more apparent in the execution than in the peculiarities of instrumentation. Crisp articulation, sharp attacks, alert rhythms, and propulsive tempos create the impression that this might be a period ensemble, and the robust accents and polished sonorities complete the authentic effect. De Vriend, who also conducts the early music ensemble Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, shows genuine feeling for the Classical period in his shaping of phrases, balancing of sections, and overall interpretation of the score, and he draws out distinctive sounds and expresssions that can be compared to the efforts of Nikolaus Harnoncourt and John Eliot Gardiner. The surround sound of this SACD is impressive for its depth and clarity, matching the companion volumes in the series in excellence.
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