This morning (Day 18, and the last day of the first leg of my journey) represents a bunch of firsts for me, to wit: I’d never heard anything conducted by David Zinman. I’d never heard the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich perform. I’d never heard of an Urtext edition. I’d never heard of the Arte Nova Classics label. And, in this Beethoven project, I haven’t yet heard an all-digital (DDD) recording. Will all those firsts make a difference? Will this be a pleasurable experience? Or not?
I’ll know soon enough.
First, some snippets David Zinman’s from his bio on Wikipeida:
David Zinman (born July 9, 1936 in New York City, United States) is an American conductor and violinist.
After early violin studies at the Oberlin Conservatory, Zinman studied theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, earning his M.A. in 1963,[1] and took up conducting at Tanglewood. He then worked in Maine with Pierre Monteux from 1958 to 1962, serving as his assistant from 1961 to 1964.
In the USA, Zinman was music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1974 to 1985. With the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, he was principal guest conductor for two years before becoming the orchestra’s music director in 1985.
Zinman became music director of the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich in 1995. His innovative programming with that orchestra includes a series of late-night concerts, “Tonhalle Late”, which combine classical music and a nightclub setting. His recordings for Arte Nova of the complete Beethoven symphonies were based on the new Jonathan Del Mar critical edition and was acclaimed by critics.
Who or what is Jonathan Del Mar?
To find out, I’ll let my fingers do the walking through Google.
Okay. Here’s what I discovered about Del Mar, from his bio on Wikipedia:
Jonathan Del Mar (born 7 January 1951)[1] is a British music editor and conductor.
He is most noted for his intense research of Beethoven’s works, particularly the new edition of Beethoven’s nine symphonies for Bärenreiter. This edition has been used by conductors of the standing of Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Philippe Herreweghe, Osmo Vänskä and David Zinman and orchestras such as the Hanover Band, Minnesota Orchestra, and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.
His research on Beethoven’s symphonies started in 1984.
So, Del Mar has put together new edits of Beethoven’s symphonies. Got it. I wonder how they’re different from the previous versions? For an answer to that, there’s this interview on Barenreiter with Del Mar in which he discussed his Urtext editions.
So how would you define an Urtext Edition?
An edition which thoroughly and exhaustively examines all the source material in order to present that text which, using all the expertise of which you are capable, comes as near as possible to the composer’s final intentions.
By the way, “urtext” is defined this way on its entry on Wikipedia:
An urtext edition of a work of classical music is a printed version intended to reproduce the original intention of the composer as exactly as possible, without any added or changed material. Other kinds of editions distinct from urtext are facsimile and interpretive editions, discussed below.
Okay. On with my opinion of this recording.
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this one (Symphony No. 1 in C Major), from this particular conductor (Zinman, at age 62) and this particular orchestra (Tonhalle Orchster Zurich), at this particular time in history (December 15 & 16, 1998) on this particular record label (Arte Nova Classics – no web site or Wiki entry available) is as follows:
I. Adagio molto………………………………………………………………………………..7:58
II. Andante cantabile con moto………………………………………………………6:40
III. Menuetto. Allegro molto e vivace………………………………………………4:02
IV. Adagio – Allegro molto e vivace…………………………………………………5:07
Total running time: 23:47
This running time represents the shortest of any I’d heard to date in my Beethoven project. And it sounds it, too. Movement I sounds notably brisk. Too brisk, for my tastes. The entire symphony slides from start to stop like a duck landing on an ice-covered lake.
I can’t tell if this is due to Zinman’s choice of a quicker tempo, or if it’s the Urtext edition, which – according to the back of the CD – seems to be this label’s claim to fame:
A performance of the highest interest for Beethoven lovers: ARTE-NOVA is the first label to produce all of the Beethoven symphonies based upon the new critical Barenreiter Edition by Jonathan Del Mar on modern instruments, under the baton of a world-class conductor.
Those are the facts, Jack. Now, how did they sound to my ears?
My Rating:
Recording quality: 5 (sounds flawless, if a bit dry; could be the all-digital recording)
Overall musicianship: 4 (supremely competent; yet, not inspired)
CD liner notes: 3 (a booklet in each CD jewel case; however, the information is a hodgepodge that lacks even running times for each track, as well as total running time for each symphony)
How does this make me feel: 3
For whatever reason – Zinman’s quicker tempo, the Urtext edition, the all-digital recording, the orchestra…who knows? – this didn’t move me in the slightest. In fact, I was wholeheartedly disinterested, if that’s even a phrase that works.
I can usually tell from the first minute of the first movement of a symphony if it’s going to engage me. This one didn’t. And, the more I listened, the more disengaged I became. Then put off by the briskness of the tempo. Then, it all went downhill from there.
This is probably as fine a recording as the ARTE-NOVA label says it is. It’s likely as historic as the ARTE-NOVA label says it is. It could be groundbreaking in various and sundry ways.
But it just doesn’t move me.
And isn’t that what music is all about?
I rate this a resounding “Meh.”
Tomorrow starts Symphony No. 2!
NOTE: In this video (“On the Modern Beethoven”), Zinman calls Beethoven “a revolutionary”: