Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Danish National Concert Choir
Orchestra: Danish Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Ádám Fischer
Number of Discs: 5
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Release: 2019
Size: 5.38 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
01. I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio
02. II. Andante cantabile con moto
03. III. Menuetto
04. IV. Finale. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36
05. I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio
06. II. Larghetto
07. III. Scherzo. Allegro
08. IV. Allegro molto
CD 02
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 ‘Eroica’
01. I. Allegro con brio
02. II. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai
03. III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
04. IV. Finale. Allegro molto
Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60
05. I. Adagio – Allegro vivace
06. II. Adagio
07. III. Allegro vivace
08. IV. Allegro ma non troppo
CD 03
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
01. I. Allegro con brio
02. II. Andante con moto
03. III. Scherzo. Allegro
04. IV. Allegro
Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 ‘Pastoral’
05. I. Awakening of Cheerful Feelings upon Arrival in the Country. Allegro ma non troppo
06. II. Scene by the Brook. Andante molto mosso
07. III. Merry Gathering of Country Folk. Allegro
08. IV. Thunderstorm. Allegro
09. V. Shepherd’s Song. Happy and Thankful Feelings After the Storm. Allegretto
CD 04
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
01. I. Poco sostenuto – Vivace
02. II. Allegretto
03. III. Presto
04. IV. Allegro con brio
Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93
05. I. Allegro vivace e con brio
06. II. Allegretto scherzando
07. III. Tempo di menuetto
08. IV. Allegro vivace
CD 05
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 ‘Choral’
01. I. Allegro, ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
02. II. Scherzo. Molto vivace
03. III. Adagio molto e cantabile
04. IV. Finale. Presto
Look through online reviews of conductor Ádám Fischer’s Haydn and Mozart recordings with the Danish Chamber Orchestra, and you’ll see a lot of five-star evaluations, and a lot of one-star judgments as well. He’s just that kind of interpreter, and his Beethoven symphony cycle is more of the same, and perhaps even a bit more outrageous/inspired, depending on your point of view. The Fischer trademarks are all here: the fast tempos, the clipped phrases that seem to trail off (although this is very carefully controlled), the way of plowing through phrases without a hint of expressive shaping. The last of these suggests Fischer’s priorities: he prizes large-scale structure over local effect, and his inner lines are as important as the melodies. The thing is, all these oddities are amplified in Beethoven, who usually isn’t played by a chamber orchestra. In his own time, of course, the orchestras he worked with might have been closer to the Danish Chamber Orchestra’s size than to the Berlin Philharmonic, and one way to look at Fischer’s work is to consider that he may be stripping away Romantic accretions to the music. Sample the Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, whose first movement hardly seems a titanic struggle with fate; of course, Beethoven never said it was anything of the sort, and Fischer’s horns come through with what might have been something of the impact they had for Beethoven’s audiences. A much-talked-about feature of this set is the presence of a countertenor, Morten Grove Frandsen, as a soloist in the finale of the Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125. Plainly this is ahistorical, but as it turns out, it makes only a subtle difference in the sound with all the other singers belting out their lines at top volume. Throughout, the players of the Danish Chamber Orchestra excel. They have worked with Fischer for a long time on interpretations like this, and they respond to him with a praiseworthy level of detail. One possible bottom line: if you enjoy hearing a conductor rethink music from the ground up, check this out, even above Fischer’s other recordings. Another: the Ninth Symphony here has little of its grandly humanistic effect, which Beethoven surely intended. Lastly, as a technical accomplishment, these versions fall into a great European tradition.