Having responded happily to the fresh air and brisk tempos that David Zinman has consistently brought to Beethoven throughout this admirable series (the Ninth alone has fallen to RO to review, see above), it is time to take stock and weigh the odds in relation to other bargain cycles. Viewed overall, my initial enthusiasm still stands, especially for Symphonies Nos. 1, 4, 6 and 8, in which – if I may quote my original review of the Eighth – ‘every strand of argument bristles with life’. Now, as before, I am marginally bothered by a certain ‘levelling of dynamics’ in the Seventh and in the Fifth, by a finale that ‘might have benefited from a wider curve of dynamics and … a little more in the way of tonal weight’. On the other hand, Zinman’s fleet-footed Eroica has grown on me and I still consider the Fourth to be among the most vivacious accounts available. As to the Ninth, the Scherzo’s super-fast Trio (an option also taken by Philippe Herreweghe and Benjamin Zander, the latter on Pickwick, 9/92 – nla) makes particular sense at the very end of the movement where Trio and outer section engage in a brief comic tussle. For me, this draws active parallels with other works from Beethoven’s later phase, especially with the String Quartet, Op. 130. The fast first movement is suitably dangerous and while the finale will no doubt court controversy (primarily for some unusual tempo relations), the Adagio sounds matter-of-fact, even a little impatient. Indeed, it is the one movement in the whole cycle that seems rather to misfire.
Regular readers will of course know that Zinman has used Barenreiter’s new edition of Beethoven’s texts, although they may not realize that many of the extra ‘twiddly bits’ – i.e. odd appoggiaturas and ornaments, invariably sewn along the woodwind lines – were inserted by the conductor, based on sound musicological principles (see the David Zinman interview last month). Other textual differences were noted in my original reviews, and I shall not court boredom by reiterating them here. All repeats are observed, and so are the majority of Beethoven’s metronome markings. What matters most is the overall character of Zinman’s Beethoven which, as I have suggested before, is swift, lean, exhilarating and transparent. The Tonhalle copes bravely, often with exceptional skill, and the recordings easily compare with their best full-price rivals. Indeed, although Zinman places his violin desks next to each other, the recording is so good that you often hear them as spatially separated.
And the best bargain alternatives? I have always responded sympathetically both to Michael Gielen’s live-wire intelligence and Gunter Wand’s sense of structure, while Leinsdorf’s solid, strong-arm Beethoven also has much to commend it. Karajan’s 1962 cycle is surely the best of four and although Mackerras, like Zinman, sheds revealing beams of light here and there, this Zurich set has the greater impact. Readers who favour the darker, weightier, more obviously ‘heroic’ Beethoven known (wrongly, perhaps) as ‘old school’ will probably not respond quite so readily, although I would still urge them to give Zinman and his band a try. For me, his cycle remains the best bargain digital option. Besides, Arte Nova’s asking price is so ludicrously cheap that it is worth buying on impulse, if only for the sake of a refreshing change. Just try to have someone else’s Choral in reserve.
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