Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7
NDR Radiophilharmonie, Andrew Manze
A consummate interpreter, Manze never plays fast and loose with tempos, nor with radically over-emphasised dynamics. The rigour of his period performance practice and expressive consideration...
Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7
NDR Radiophilharmonie, Andrew Manze
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A consummate interpreter, Manze never plays fast and loose with tempos, nor with radically over-emphasised dynamics. The rigour of his period performance practice and expressive consideration...
About
After their prize-winning Mendelssohn symphonies cycle and acclaimed Mozart symphonies album, the NDR Radiophilharmonie and its chief conductor Andrew Manze now present Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh symphonies. While Beethoven’s Fifth is arguably the most famous symphony in the history of music, the Seventh counts as one of the most rhythmically-advanced pieces of nineteenth-century music; an “apotheosis of dance”, to quote Richard Wagner. Both works display Beethoven’s mastery of and audacious approach to musical form as well as the richness of his melodic invention, and are generally praised as paragons of symphonic composition. Andrew Manze brings his experience in the field of historically informed performance to the polished symphonic sound of the NDR Radiophilharmonie, providing an ambience that fits these early nineteenth-century works like a glove.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
April 2020
A consummate interpreter, Manze never plays fast and loose with tempos, nor with radically over-emphasised dynamics. The rigour of his period performance practice and expressive consideration brings clarity and freshness, the sound finely judged, full of breadth, never ploughing through the symphony’s vulnerable moments…Highly recommended.
March 2020
Honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve heard interpretations where everything seems to be in its right place. The NDR Radiophilharmonie play superbly for Manze, with characterful woodwind solos, welcome hints of period bite from brass and timpani, and a string tone of substantial body and lustre. The engineering, too, is beyond reproach. Enthusiastically recommended.
16th February 2020
The conductor’s period-instrument background manifests itself in swift, no-nonsense tempi...with cogent feeling for structure and pulsing rhythmic momentum that never sound hard-driven...And the strings never sound too plush or saturated, giving these performances a feeling of contemporary freshness and interpretative zest.
