This morning, while I eat my tasty Midwestern Scramble at New Beginnings Restaurant, I look outside to see our first major snowfall of the season, sip quite tasty coffee that doesn’t seem to have a bottom because of the crack team of wait staff here, and I listen to Austrian conductor Karl Bohm, Wiener Philharmonica, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major.
It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it.
I don’t know when – or even if – it snows where you live.
But this is a respectable amount of snow for us in Michigan for the just the 10th of November. We don’t usually see this much snow until much later in the year.
Damn that global warming. 🙂
I’ve experienced Maestro Bohm six times previous to this morning, on…
Day 5. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 23. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Day 41. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Day 59. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 77. Rating: “Meh!”
Day 95: Rating: “Meh!”
As you can see, I’ve given Bohm rather mixed ratings, with more “Meh!” than “Huzzah!” to date.
What will today bring?
I’ll know in about 40 minutes.
But first, here’s a brief excerpt from the liner notes (written by Jurgen Ostmann, translated by J&M Berridge):
Beethven’s contemporaries were largely unanimous in their assessment of the Seventh Symphony. They experienced it as being easily understood, affirmative of life and happy in mood, despite the funeral-march Allegretto [Movement II], which became “the favourite of both connoisseurs and laymen alike.” The final movement later caused the work to be characterized as “the apotheosis of the dance (Richard Wagner) and “an orgy of rhythm” (Romain Rolland).
I agree with every word of that well-considered description.
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this particular one (Symphony No. 7 in A major), from this particular conductor (Bohm, at age 76) and this particular orchestra (Wiener Philharmoniker), at this particular time in history (April, 1970) on this particular record label (Deutsche Grammophon) is as follows:
I. Poco sostenuto – Vivace……………………………..12:19
II. Allegretto………………………………………………………9:57
III. Presto – Assai meno presto (trio)……………….8:29
IV. Allegro con brio…………………………………………..7:06
Total running time: 37:11
My Rating:
Recording quality: 4 (slight tape hiss; otherwise, up to DG standards)
Overall musicianship: 4 (a few inspired passages, mostly by the book and listless: competent)
CD liner notes: 3 (short essay about Beethoven, lyrics in French, German, English, but nothing about Bohm or the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)
How does this make me feel: 5 ( “Huzzah!”)
This performance grabbed me from the start and never let me go. Every movement was worthy of the Beethoven name.
Movement I was energetic and fun.
Movement II was appropriately somber, yet extremely moving and compelling. The pizzicato strings were well recorded and added to the mood.
Movement III was lively, robust, and lush (meaning, the entire orchestra demonstrated power and passion). This movement was especially well recorded in that the top end was very much there, and the all the instruments were clear as a bell.
Movement IV is a cracker of a piece of music, with lots of dynamic range, energy, passion, and rollicking fun.
This is a fantastic performance, well recorded and well played.
“Huzzah!”