When recently
reviewing Horenstein’s recording of Beethoven’s "Eroica"
reissued by Vox I regretted the fact that they had not used his first
recording made in mono in Vienna in 1952 around the time of his other
Beethoven recordings. My principal reason for this was the superiority
of the orchestra then and I think that position is borne out by this
fine double issue which comes from those sessions featuring "Pro
Musica Symphony, Vienna" - essentially the Vienna Symphony Orchestra
playing out of contract. The sound may be mono but it’s well balanced
and clear with little distortion to get in the way of some fine music
making, so I welcome these familiar recordings back into the catalogue.
Honesty was always the byword for Horenstein’s Beethoven
- a quality that used to draw me to these Vox recordings in their LP
form at the local music library in the late 1960s. His was a sound palette
unadorned by attempts at forced beauty of tone. He also had that approach
to tempi that tried to maintain a characteristic of uniformity throughout,
binding and unifying, setting up a tension across the movements that
was cumulative. Karajan’s 1962 DG recordings were being borrowed from
those same library shelves more times, but for me his growing stress
on surface beauty was, even in those recordings, making crucial inroads
that would eventually become fatal. Horenstein, along with Klemperer,
was a definite antidote to this for which I was grateful even then.
Toscanini, whose historic NBC Beethoven recordings were also available
on those familiar RCA black and white boxed sets, was too soulless so
it was Horenstein in those symphonies he recorded in the 1950s for Vox
(3, 5, 6 and 9) and Klemperer who gave me most pleasure and insight.
Later on I would discover Karajan’s 1950s recordings with the Philharmonia
and feel then, and now, that he never improved on them.
Under Horenstein the "Pastoral" opens with
a first movement that is alert and springy with fine points of detail
stressed through some sharp accents carefully attended to. These Viennese
players are really on their toes where those in Baden-Baden for the
later stereo "Eroica" remake were not. There is an appropriate
feeling of joy at the arrival in the countryside here. Though it must
be said this is quite a bracing walk so perhaps the coast isn’t too
far away with the whiff of ozone in the air. This means that only a
marginal relaxation in the second movement is then needed for the necessary
contrast as even here Horenstein keeps the scene moving along, though
never at the expense of those inner details. I also like the way he
unfolds the melodies with such affection and yet with a real glance
back at the classical style from which they sprang. The tempo for the
peasants in the third movement is closer to Klemperer’s legendary stately
gait, but Horenstein injects real trenchancy and tongue-in-cheek humour
that I enjoyed and this leads effortlessly to a storm that has great
power achieved by the feeling that it is being held back slightly. In
the end, as so often with Horenstein, the effect is cumulative with
the tension screwed up to maximum by the end so that, with the arrival
of the thanksgiving hymn, delivered with poise and warmth, the feeling
of having arrived home from a country walk is real. So this is a lovely,
lively performance I have enjoyed getting to know again. The sound is
a well-balanced mellow mono, the kind Vox thought well suited to a single
speaker gramophone but with enough reverberation to transfer well to
two.
It’s good to hear how well the recording of the Fifth
Symphony has come up also. Again a little extra reverberation from the
days many of us listened to our music on Dansettes but still musically
balanced and free of distortion. In the first movement a fundamental
lyricism is balanced against a determined rhythmic gait. Horenstein
is, unsurprisingly, not one to rush this movement but he doesn’t let
it drag either. His familiar ability to build a movement from within,
staking out "way points", is never more clear as the close
of the movement hove into view and some well-disciplined playing helps
remarkably, as it did with the "Pastoral", to close the symphonic
argument emphatically with a fierce logic. For some listeners this may
be somewhat lacking in the visceral excitement generated by Carlos Kleiber
on DG (447 400-2), the monumental grandeur of Klemperer on EMI (5667942),
or the nerve-end exposure of Furtwängler on Biddulph (WHL 006)
to name just three greater interpreters of this work, but it has its
place and pays dividends. There is then a mordancy in the way Horenstein
encourages the opening theme of the second movement to meander rather
and some fine string playing assists him along with woodwind solos that
are full of character from these fine players. Tension does drop rather
in the third movement but there is enough in the detailing, especially
in the all-important inner string details, to maintain interest, even
though the blood is hardly stirred as it can be here. However, when
the descent in the "valley of darkness" prior to the blaze
of the last movement’s opening, more of Horenstein’s inner logic becomes
clear. He wants to stress the mystery in this passage so even when the
last movement arrives the stress remains on grim determination rather
than the all-embracing triumph we are so often used to. So this is not
the kind of Fifth that frays the nerves or inspires the heart. Rather
it is one that seems determined to stress struggle and travail from
start to finish. An interesting experience.
The overtures are no makeweights. They offer more examples
of what a fine Beethovenian Horenstein was, fully in keeping with his
style from the two symphonies. "Coriolan" is intense and romantic
but still held in that iron Horenstein grip, as always engendering tension.
Dark wind solos are stressed too and the climax is built with monumental
tragic grandeur that puts me in mind of Furtwangler who was matchless
in this piece. When the music falls away into smoky devastation we are
aware of having lived through real events with Captains and Kings departing.
The performance of "Egmont" from the same sessions shares
many of "Coriolan’s" characteristics. It starts in grieving
intensity and notice how the total sound picture is attended to through
the fine, well-balanced mono recording with basses especially well caught.
"Leonore III" reproduces a tremendous timpani crack on the
first chord and Horenstein proceeds to cover every aspect of what is,
in fact, a symphonic poem in all but name. Excitement, drama, introspection
and sheer blazing energy all in evidence along with the, by now familiar,
honest and unadorned sound palette that I mentioned earlier. "Prometheus"
is a nice contrast to what has gone in being suitably warm and good-humoured.
Then there is "The Consecration of the House" recorded a little
later than the others with rather more reverberation and top to the
sound, but with the same sense of dark, determined tragedy, especially
in the opening passage. Horenstein seems very keen to bring out Beethoven’s
tribute to Handel in the central section too and notice the use of the
bassoon, another characteristic of this conductor. Klemperer gave this
piece more grandeur where Horenstein is a touch more animated, but both
are key interpreters of a work, heard less often than the other overtures
here.
As with all these Vox reissues there is a fine essay
on the life and work of Horenstein by his former assistant Joel Lazar.
A fine collection of performances showing Horenstein’s
Beethoven credentials very well indeed. Full of insights and interest
and well worth investigating.
Tony Duggan
Pro Musica Symphony, Vienna/Jascha
Horenstein