Today is gorgeous. The temperature is 57 degrees (Fahrenheit), under blue skies, with just a slight 9-mile-per-hour breeze out of the South.
So I wasted no time setting up my makeshift desk and got to work listening to English conductor Sir Simon Rattle (1955- ), The Wiener Philharmoniker, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor.
A crisp, crunchy Jonagold apple and some Evamor high-alkaline water round out my late-Fall listening experience.
I’ll be honest. I haven’t enjoyed Simon Rattle up to this point. So I’m not looking forward to his performance today. But it’s such a lovely afternoon that I will do as the British do: adopt a stiff upper lip and lean into it.
Or, as the redneck comedian says, “Git ‘er done!”
I’ve encountered Maestro Rattle four times previous to this afternoon, on…
Day 15. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 33. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 51. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 69. Rating: “Meh!”
What will today bring? I shudder to think.
But, stiff upper lip firmly in place, I soldier on…
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this particular one (Symphony No. 5 in C minor), from this particular conductor (Rattle, at 47) and this particular orchestra (Weiner Philharmonker), at this particular time in history (April 29-May 17, 2002) on this particular record label (Warner Classics) is as follows:
I. Allegro con brio (C minor)………………………………………………………7:24
II. Andante con moto (A♭ major)…………………………………………..9:06
III. Scherzo: Allegro (C minor)……………………………………………………4:47
IV. Allegro (C major)………………………………………………………………..10:39
Total running time: 31:16
My Rating:
Recording quality: 4 (just okay, nothing particularly remarkable; adequate; where’s the top end?)
Overall musicianship: 4 (seems predictable and plodding; no major surprises or high points)
CD liner notes: 3 (one essay about Beethoven in English, German, and French; nothing about Rattle)
How does this make me feel: 3 (“Meh!”)
When I heard Movement I, I thought, “Well, this is a Simon Rattle I hadn’t heard before!” It was powerful and paced the way I like it.
But the more I listened to the subsequent movements, the less I liked it.
Movement II, the most crucial in the entire symphony, in my opinion (if that movement is not compelling, if it turns people off – or, worse, away – then all is lost) was very good. But just barely able to hold my attention.
Movement III, my favorite, felt wrong. It did have the same power underscoring it. It felt rushed.
Movement IV, the Finale, was duly powerful. And I liked some of it.
But, on balance, there’s just something too predictable, calm, tame, by the numbers about Maestro Rattle’s performances. They never shock and awe, never electrify, never cause my head to bob or my tears to flow. They’re just remarkably adequate.
I’m sorry. But this is the fifth “Meh!” in a row for me for Simon Rattle.