This morning, the world–renowned conductor of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major is Herbert Blomstedt (1927- ).
I first encountered Maestro Blomstedt when I listened to the complete works of Beethoven a few years ago.
The label then, as it is this morning, is Brilliant Classics, one of the best in the world if you’re looking for high quality recordings at very reasonable prices.
The orchestra is Staatskapelle Dresden.
Anyway, my latest encounter with Mr. Blomstedt was on Day 4 of this project. Following Bernstein’s performance, Mr. Blomstedt didn’t fare as well.
Let’s see how he sounds this time around.
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 (Blomstedt, at age 51) and this particular orchestra (Staatskapelle Dresden), at this particular time in history (1978) on this particular record label (Brilliant Classics) is as follows:
I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio………………………………………………………………13:05
II. Larghetto………………………………………………………………………………………………….12:33
III. Scherezo. Allegro – Trio……………………………………………………………………………4:06
IV. Allegro molto…………………………………………………………………………………………….6:43
Total running time: 36:27
My Rating:
Recording quality: 4 (Brilliant Classics does exceptional work finding the best recordings)
Overall musicianship: 4
CD liner notes: 0 (no liner notes in this budget-priced box set – boo! hiss! – but an extensive set of notes can be downloaded from the Brilliant Classics site covering their complete Beethoven box set; however, although extensive, the notes are not exhaustive; no information at all is provided about the conductors, the players, the orchestras, etc.)
How does this make me feel: 3
I’m just not feeling it this time around. Again.
Even though I have the complete Beethoven box set – which includes the CDs in this budget-priced box set of just the nine symphonies – I bought this because I loved the Brilliant Classics edition so much and I wanted a portable set of the symphonies to hear wherever and whenever.
Yet, now that I hear them compared to other conductors and other symphonies, I’m not as enamored with them as I thought I was before.
I can’t put my finger on what it is about this performance that doesn’t thrill me. The orchestra doesn’t seem as dynamic as Bernstein’s yesterday. The performance seems professional and technically accurate, but not inspired or magical.
I’m sorry. I have to rate this a “Meh.”