Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 5
Leonore Overture No. 3
Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Leonard Bernstein
rec. live, 17 October 1976, Kongresssaal des Deutschen Museums, Munich
BR Klassik 900228 [50]

This recording of a live concert given in aid of Amnesty International is now over forty-eight years old, made some time before Bernstein conducting of the BRSO became a regular, annual fixture in their calendar. It is rather short measure by today’s standards, featuring only the symphony and  overture, and the notes are just a hagiography of the conductor, but it preserves a great occasion in the orchestra’s history at the start of a fruitful relationship and is in excellent analogue sound.

It doesn’t matter how many times you have heard this most venerable of classical warhorses, when it is played and recorded this well, the nobility of the horns, the sonority of the orchestral balance and the energy of Bernstein’s direction all immediately engage the listener. If this were someone’s first introduction to this music, it could hardly be bettered. A little background rumble is audible if you are listening on headphones, but nothing distracting. The timpani are especially arresting in their impact; this is wholly absorbing music-making.

There is a telling contrast between the dynamism of the first movement and the lilting swing of the Andante con moto. This is always “large-scale-full-fat” Beethoven but never short on charm or delicacy. The horn call opening the Allegro, however, is grand and monitory, and Bernstein’s pace is almost stolid but there is an inexorable, compulsive doggedness about it which I find compelling. The transition without break into the finale is seamless, magical, and we are swept along on a tsunami of orchestral sound, making us realise how innovatory and revolutionary this music was. The peroration is thoroughly satisfying with shrieking piccolos and thunderous drums – and there is no audience intrusion.

The Leonore Overture No. 3 is also superb and in the same mould. The weight of the stabbing, fortissimo outbursts in the introduction is mightily impressive. That combined with closeness of the recording occasionally result in a slightly congested effect but that is a price worth playing for the resultant drama. Its “standalone” status as a concert item as opposed to being a legitimate introduction to the opera Fidelio is enhanced by a performance of this stature. The conclusion is a veritable whirlwind.

This has been previously issued on the Memories Excellence label which may be heard on YouTube. This new issue has been remastered, but honestly I can hear little difference.

Ralph Moore

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