My listening spot this morning is the cafeteria of Forest Hills Foods, where a Starbucks Blonde Roast (yeah, I know it’s a pour over) and a blueberry donut with cream cheese frosting are in order.
It’s a nice place to be – as long as I don’t watch CNN on one of the TVs dangling in front of my face. I can’t stand CNN, which I consider to be one of the most corrupt and dishonest news organizations on the planet.
German conductor Eugen Jochum (1902-1987) was a legend. No doubt about it.
He was a superb conductor of Anton Bruckner‘s symphonies.
And, so far, he’s proving equally skilled at conducting Beethoven’s.
I first encountered Jochum during my Bruckner projects a couple of years ago (2016-2017).
I recall being deeply moved by his affinity for Bruckner’s musical visions.
In this Beethoven project, I first encountered Maestro Jochum on Day 9 and then again on Day 27. His batting average with me is .500. On Day 9, he received the coveted “Huzzah!” award. On Day 27, he received a mixed rating – not quite “Meh!” but not quite “Huzzah!” either.
What will today – and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major – bring?
Let’s find out.
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this particular one (Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major), from this particular conductor (Jochum, at age 76) and this particular orchestra (London Symphony Orchestra), at this particular time in history July 1-3 & October 4-5, 1976) on this particular record label (Warner Classics) is as follows:
I. Allegro con brio………………………………………………………………………18:18
II. Marcia funebre: Adagio assai……………………………………………….15:55
III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace – Trio…………………………………………………5:55
IV. Finale: Allegro molto – Poco andante – Presto…………………..11:53
Total running time: 51:21
My Rating:
Recording quality: 4 (Warner Classics is known for high-quality recordings; this is no exception…however slightly more tape hiss and ambient noises than usual)
Overall musicianship: 5
CD liner notes: 4 (big booklet with lots of information, except for pertinent key details, and an essay about Jochum in English, German, and French)
How does this make me feel: 5 (full on Huzzah!)
I knew from the opening two chords that this was going to be a winner.
Those two, powerful chords rang out clear as a bell – lots of treble, lots of presence.
The rest of the recording followed suit.
The entire symphony (and I heard it 2-3 times) was a pleasure to experience. As always, I loved the French horns in Movement I, and the spirited melodies of Movement III.
By the time Jochum and the London Symphony Orchestra got to the Finale, I was not only hooked, I was a fan.
What a grand, fun, energetic performance this is!
“Huzzah!”
Highly recommended.
(Incidentally, I liked this so much that even the Adagio – Movement II – was like listening to the grandest movie overture of them all. And I don’t usually like Adagios. This one, however, held my attention from start to finish. For me, that says something.)