Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 9 in D minor [66:28]
Ann-Helen Moen (soprano)
Marianne Beate Kielland (alto)
Allan Clayton (tenor)
Neal Davies (bass)
Bach Collegium Japan/Masaaki Suzuki
rec. 2019, including live, 24 January 2019, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall
BIS BIS2451 SACD [66:28]
Absolutely everything in this performance is perfectly fine. The trouble is that it’s rarely much more than that. In fact, after my first listen through, I struggled to remember much about what I’d heard because it just didn’t strike me as memorable!
That sounds too harsh: let me ameliorate. Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ) are, of course, best known for their (excellent) cycle of the complete Bach cantatas, and for other ventures into the Baroque world, most famously Messiah. Beethoven definitely isn’t their normal stomping ground, though they did record the Missa Solemnis in 2017
(review). The symphonies are terra incognita, however, and I suspect Suzuki must have been lured in by the composer’s 250th anniversary commemorations.
In some ways the Ninth is an obvious choice because of the involvement of singers, a central aspect of the BCJ’s life. However, it’s also highly ambitious, and I suspect Suzuki may have bitten off slightly more than he could chew. For one thing, it’s probably the single most influential symphony of the whole Romantic era, unignorable after its composition, and Suzuki plunges in at the deep end rather than cutting his teeth in a recording of one of the more manageable early symphonies.
He’s capable of holding his own, of course, and, as I said above, everything in his reading is perfectly fine. Speeds are considered, textures are balanced and everything works. It’s just a little unexciting. The first movement, for example, feels rather cursory at times, the great main theme emerging with little quickening of the pulse, and its thunderous reappearance at the start of the recapitulation is solid without making the scalp prickle. The Scherzo kind of passed me by, for all the skill of its playing, and Suzuki observes the repeat after the Trio, which I found rather unnecessary, particularly when his musical conception wasn't really exciting enough to bear an extra repetition. The Trio itself is very rapid, but has a flawless legato that was very pleasing. So, too, does the Adagio, though that’s rather too quick for my taste. The finale also runs through perfectly well, though it feels a little episodic in places, and I was never gripped by any sense of a great vision guiding its unfolding.
The orchestral playing is very good, using period instruments to great effect. I particularly liked the string sound, which is vibratoless but still quite silky. This gives them plenty of bite in the first two movements, even if they didn’t seduce me in the third. The timps bounce their way merrily through the Scherzo, while winds and brass play their role very well, the horns adding a surprising touch of sweetness at unexpected points.
The choir sing well, and the soloists are all good; and it’s nice to see two strong British representatives in the tenor and bass. I just wasn’t grabbed, which feels like a missed opportunity. Two indisputably excellent things are the BIS recording, so clear you can hear the upbeat that launches each movement, and the packaging, with notes are written by Ernst Hettrich of the Beethoven Archive, and a sleeve that’s slimline, cardboard and, increasingly importantly, plastic-free.
It goes without saying, however, that this disc is entering one of the most crowded fields of all. If you’re looking for a period instrument performance then you’re still probably best to go for John Eliot Gardiner’s ORR recording on DG, still sounding fantastic, or the more recent one from Emmanuel Krivine will also scratch that itch very well. All of that, of course, is to say nothing of the legions of recordings on modern symphony orchestras. After reacquainting myself with that company, I think I’ll put this one aside.
Simon Thompson
