David Zinman, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich - Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 (1998)

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David Zinman, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich - Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 (1998)

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David Zinman’s account of the Fourth Symphony is fleet and mercurial, as compelling a case as we have for honouring Beethoven’s fast metronome markings and, in the finale, bursting with unforced vitality (though without undermining the power of those crucial sforzando semiquavers at bar 66). Freshly revealed detail includes energetic semiquavers among second violins 2'28'' into the Allegro vivace (rarely as clear on rival versions) and held forte horns at 3'58'' into the Adagio, at the point where trenchant descending sforzando chords intensify the mood.
We are told that this is the first modern-instrument recording of the new Barenreiter text, which, I presume, is why the clarinet line is embellished from 6'30'' into the Adagio. Elsewhere in the Fourth, things remain much as we already know them, at least from a notational point of view. Zinman flies through the opening movement’s development section on a single breath, allowing the music’s contrasts to tell without tiresome – and still all-too-common – ritardandos (also, note the quiet rattle of timpani at 7'10'').
Scherzo is given an extra lift at 0'42'' (bar 49, and repeats thereafter) where Zinman scoops a portamento among lower strings, and the Adagio is consistently lyrical within a supple framework. Few Beethoven Fourths tell a happier tale, and there is none that even begins to compete with this one.
Needless to say, all repeats are observed; but in the Eroica there is an extra repeat that many listeners will not have encountered before: it occurs when the main body of the Scherzo returns after the Trio, swinging us back to bar 286 (just before the flute takes up the theme) and repeating the whole sequence up to the coda.
Viewed as a whole, Zinman’s Eroica levels with various up-tempo period-instrument alternatives, though its many distinguishing features include a notably animated and quick-witted first-movement development section. The Marcia funebre is a very marchable quaver=80 (Beethoven’s prescribed tempo), with sundry unfamiliar embellishments to the oboe line and some rugged drama later on.
The finale is interesting in that the variation at 1'18'' (bar 59) slims down from full string tutti to string quartet, and there are more embellishments to the oboe line. In other respects, and taking on board various minor novelties of phrase and nuance, Zinman parades a lean, sprightly, incisively articulated Eroica, ‘late classical’ rather than ‘early romantic’ in style (very roughly speaking) and a joyous alternative to the grand though heavy artillery favoured by earlier generations of conductors. Of course, I wouldn’t want to miss out on them, either; but Zinman helps adjust our ears for a new perspective – without dropping the pitch or inflicting enfeebled string sonorities on us (not my cup of tea, as you may already have guessed). His is the most palatably performed presentation of the Beethoven symphony as valeted by modern scholarship. The recordings are generally first-rate.

–Gramophone

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David Zinman, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich - Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 (1998)

Close