Here is another interesting
Beethoven issue from the Swedish Chamber
Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard. The
coupling of the Pastoral Symphony with
the three Leonore Overtures is imaginative
enough, though a logical addition would
have been the Fidelio Overture. However,
since this plays for six or seven minutes
it might have been a tight fit on a
single CD. Still a pity and a missed
opportunity.
To take the Overtures
first: these are dramatic performances,
as Dausgaard’s previous issues in his
Beethoven series have been. The music
sounds best when it is moving full tilt
at a genuine Allegro tempo, and in this
sense the more aggressive aspects of
the Second and Third Overtures are particularly
exciting. With a smaller ensemble performing
the music, it might have seemed likely
that the slighter Leonore No. 1 would
fare best. In fact it does not, since
the opening paragraph of the piece suffers
from scrawny violin sound. In all the
music, the symphony included, the lack
of bloom in the violin sound is something
of a problem, as though the addition
of an extra desk of violins might have
given the ensemble more body. On the
other hand, perhaps the recording does
not capture the sound to best advantage.
Beauty of sound is
always one of the options in performances
of the Pastoral Symphony; and while
not every conductor will put this at
the top of the priorities list, the
lack of body from the Swedish Chamber
Orchestra’s violins does detract from
the music’s lyrical qualities. Accordingly
those aspects of the work that rely
on rhythmic precision and vitality,
such as the scherzo of the Peasants’
Merrymaking and the intensity of the
Storm, are the high points of this performance.
That said, the somewhat underpowered
timpani could have made more impact
in the latter.
The various solos are
particularly well taken. The imitations
of birdsong in the second movement are
a good example, and the horn leading
the way towards the Shepherds’ Thanksgiving
is another. This is fine playing and
does great credit to all concerned.
But as the music moves towards its affirmative
conclusion, with the profound message
of ‘man at one with nature’, there is
room for more warmth in the orchestral
sound. This is true also at the very
beginning of the symphony, ‘the awakening
of happy feelings upon arrival in the
country’, which seems somehow to be
matter-of-fact.
Of course, there is
always more than one way to approach
and perform a masterpiece of the symphonic
literature, and Dausgaard and his orchestra
bring freshness and commitment to every
bar. Therefore each listener must decide
whether this chamber orchestra approach
suits the music better than the larger
scale performances, such as the famous
one by the Vienna Philharmonic under
Karl Böhm (DG), that remain at
the head of the list of recommended
recordings.
Terry Barfoot
Swedish Chamber Orchestra/Thomas Dausgaard 
