Okay. I’ll be honest.
I have a soft spot in my heart for Argentine conductor Daniel Barenboim (1942- ).
And Staatskapelle_Berlin.
My wife and I saw both and in person at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, January 28, 2017.
The performance was Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8.
It was a night we’ll never forget.
Anyway, I like Maestro Barenboim, enough to fly 800 miles to see him perform a single evening. In the dead of winter. But we stayed at the world-famous Algonquin Hotel for a night. So that was icing on the cake. (I’ve always been a fan of the Algonquin Round Table, the group of luminaries – that included Harpo Marx – who met at the Algonquin to talk, play cards, and pontificate on world events is revered to this day.)
But will I like him conducting Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major?
I’ll know soon enough.
Before I get to that, I first encountered Maestro Barenboim in my Beethoven project on Day 2. There, I awarded what I heard with a…nothing. Not a “Meh!” and not a “Huzzah!” Interesting.
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this one (Symphony No. 2 in D Major), from this particular conductor (Barenboim, at age 57) and this particular orchestra (Staatskapelle_Berlin), at this particular time in history (May – July 1999) on this particular record label (Warner Classics) is as follows:
I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio………………………………………………………………12:54
II. Larghetto………………………………………………………………………………………………….11:53
III. Scherezo. Allegro – Trio……………………………………………………………………………3:31
IV. Allegro molto…………………………………………………………………………………………….6:32
Total running time: 34:10
My Rating:
Recording quality: 5 (like Mary Poppins, it’s practically perfect in every way)
Overall musicianship: 5
CD liner notes: 5 (a nice, meaty booklet; lots of info in several languages)
How does this make me feel: 4
Overall, this is a very fine performance, slightly brisker than Abbado’s in two movements (1st and 3rd), and much longer (by nearly two minutes) in another (the 2nd).
The criticism that is sometimes leveled against Maestro Barenboim is that he plays it too safe. He doesn’t take risks.
Maybe.
But so what? Life isn’t always about risks. At least, not for me. It’s about passion. And joy.
This is a “Huzzah!” worthy performance. It’s powerful and nicely recorded and well appointed with lots of liner notes.
Warner Classics does a fine job, especially when it comes to Daniel Barenboim.