This morning’s conductor of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major is, once again, Herbert von Karajan – this time from the legendary 1977 cycle.
As with his performance in the 1963 cycle, the orchestra for the ’77 is still the Berliner Philharmoniker. (I wonder if any musicians from 1977 were present at the recording of the performance in 1961?)
The record label is still Deutsche Grammophon.
From the liner notes, written by Richard Osborne:
At the heart of Herbert von Karajan’s astonishing success as a recording artist are his four complete cycles of the nine Beethoven symphonies. This is a tribute both to the centrality of the readings and to the centrality to the repertoire of the music itself.
This time around, however, the sonic scope of the recording is wider (no doubt due to more modern recording equipment and techniques), and the overall feel more ponderous, less exuberant. The 1977 performance feels more serious to me.
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this particular one (Symphony No. 1 in C Major), from this particular conductor (Karajan, at age 69) and this particular orchestra (Berliner Philharmoniker), at this particular time in history (1975-1977) on this particular record label (Deutsche Grammophon) is as follows:
I. Adagio molto………………………………………………………………………………..7:45
II. Andante cantabile con moto………………………………………………………6:04
III. Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace……………………………………………….3:36
IV. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace…………………………………………………5:27
Total running time: 23:01
My Rating:
Recording quality: 5 (typical high quality DG_label release)
Overall musicianship: 4 (doesn’t feel as inspired as the ’63 release, or as energetic as other performances from other orchestras)
CD liner notes: 4 (adequate information, nice Bernstein essay in English, German, French)
How does this make me feel: 3 (it’s a total “meh” to me)
Even though there’s no tape hiss, and Karajan has 15 years more experience under his belt, I don’t enjoy the 1977 performance of Symphony No. 1 in C Major as much as I did the 1963. It lacks what I think it needs: youthful exuberance. After all, Beethoven himself was 25 when he started work on his first symphony. He was only 30 when it debuted, and just 31 when it was first published. As serious as our mental image of Beethoven probably is, I don’t think we can discount his youth in how he intended his music to be performed.
Karajan seems to have added weight or reverence to the performance, which makes it feel longer than the others – even though, at 23:01, it’s the shortest performance of Symphony No. 1 I’ve heard to date.
Of course, all of this is in the ear of the beholder. I could be full of crap, and likely am. I’m just jotting down my thoughts as I listen. That doesn’t mean what I write is Gospel truth. Your mileage may vary.