I’m back at my “office” of New Beginnings restaurant and my Mexican chicken omelette with enough hot sauce to make my eyes water.
To me, it’s the only way to enjoy food – if it stings and burns. This early in the morning, I need waking up like that.
My listening fare today is Gunter Wand (1912-2002) and the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major.
The last time I listened to Maestro Wand was on Day 17.
And here I am doing so again.
The circle of life, eh?
From the essay on Symphony No. 2 (translated by Beverly J. Sing) in the liner notes:
“Ultra-artificial, “too bizarre, wild and screaming,” a “Haydn driven up out of bizarre elements nearly to the point of caricature”: the judgments which accompanied the first years of the Second Symphony are not exactly flattering. Although the knowledgeable music world had granted the preceding work the quite comfortable middle path between convention and originality, the step taken by Beethoven with his Opus 36 fell, so it seems, on deaf ears.
I guess I must like “too bizarre, wild and screaming,” a “Haydn driven up out of bizarre elements nearly to the point of caricature” because I like the Second. It’s catchy. And memorable. And bold. And energetic.
But is it so in the hands of Gunter Wand?
Let’s see….
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this particular one (Symphony No. 2 in D Major), from this particular conductor (Wand, at age 76) and this particular orchestra (North German Radio Symphony Orchestra), at this particular time in history (October 10-15, 1988) on this particular record label (RCA Victor Red Seal, now owned by Sony) is as follows:
I. Adagio molto – Allegro con brio………………………………………………………………11:33
II. Larghetto………………………………………………………………………………………………….10:26
III. Scherezo. Allegro – Trio……………………………………………………………………………5:54
IV. Allegro molto…………………………………………………………………………………………….6:55
Total running time: 31:45
My Rating:
Recording quality: 4 (slight tape hiss and some ambient sounds)
Overall musicianship: 5
CD liner notes: 4 (a booklet in each CD jewel case; the essays on Symphonies 2 and 4 are brief but informative. In addition, the bulk of the text is in German, although the essays are also translated into English and French )
How does this make me feel: 5
Yes.
I like it.
A lot.
It’s chock-full of energy and wild abandon and dynamic range, as well as dynamic contrasts between passages that are softly played and boldly announced.
I can’t find anything wrong with this performance. To my ears, this is a worthy recording, one I’d share with others without hesitation.
“Huzzah!” I say with glee.
“Huzzah!”