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Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral' & Knecht: Le Portrait musical de la Nature ou Grande Symphonie
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck
The orchestra is small, just over 30 players, and for much of the time remarkably quiet. But with the outburst of the fourth movement they make a tremendous noise, with ear-splitting brass....
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral' & Knecht: Le Portrait musical de la Nature ou Grande Symphonie
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck
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The orchestra is small, just over 30 players, and for much of the time remarkably quiet. But with the outburst of the fourth movement they make a tremendous noise, with ear-splitting brass....
About
This recording presents two symphonies "on the theme of nature." Valid though this expression is, it nevertheless calls for quotation marks. Far from being a prefiguration of Beethoven's famous Pastoral, Justin Heinrich Knechts' Symphonie 'Portrait musical de la nature' represented a highly convincing attempt by it's composer to extricate himself from program music. It is exciting to hear these two works recorded together for the first time by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin directed by it's concertmaster, Bernhard Forck.
Contents and tracklist
I. Allegretto - Andante pastorale - Allegretto - Villanella grazioso (un poco adagio) - Allegretto
Track length8:55
I. Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande. Allegro, ma non troppo
Track length10:58
Awards and reviews
May 2020
The orchestra is small, just over 30 players, and for much of the time remarkably quiet. But with the outburst of the fourth movement they make a tremendous noise, with ear-splitting brass. Tempos tend to be on the fast side, but not disconcertingly so, and there is an agreeable sense of flexibility, the more striking since there is no conductor…you will certainly notice things that you haven’t heard before.
Jul/Aug 2020
It is easy to think that one has heard everything when it comes to the Beethoven symphonies, but I would urge perhaps jaded listeners to try this new performance out. This is an outstanding performance in excellent modern sound, and I believe that this new recording is now a clear first choice for period instrument performance. I know of no modern-instrument performance that gets things as right as this one, either.
