The Choral Fantasy is given a rather brisk performance at times and,
as a consequence, it sounds a different piece. It sounds 'modern' to begin
with, then takes on a Bachian clarity before the 'modern' sound resumes.
Hints at the Third Piano Concerto follow and there is some really
muscular playing. Sometimes the performance has a childlike quality. The
choir is a little distant at time but there are some really exciting moments
reminding us of the greatness of this music. The climaxes are very fine and
gloriously robust.
The Choral Symphony is not an easy work to bring off and has suffered
from some eccentric and awful performances over many years. The televised
broadcast from Ely Cathedral under Simon Rattle over Christmas 1999 was one
such occasion. Igor Stravinsky told us that he found the rhapsodic finale
lacked cohesion and I can see what he means. I have yet to hear a performance
where all the soloists are equally good and where the choir is in fine voice
and where the conductor keeps it all together as one movement, rather than
several linked episodes. I suppose I hear this work at least four times a
year and have about 40 recordings. The soloists on Karajan's discs are probably
the best but his conducting and additions to Beethoven's score rule these
performances out.
Toscanini's finale develops into a very fine performance. It begins with
a blaze but no fire, and highlights the stop and start dilemma. The age of
the recording means that some important sustained notes are not. The interplay
of the strings and the bassoon some three and a half minutes in is exquisite
as is the following string cantilena. The first timpani entry before
the introduction of the bass is stunning and the woodwind accompaniment in
his first extended solo is a revelation. The opening vocal quartet passage
may seem a little strange today since it shows how styles have changed in
60 years. In our day everything is so polished and this loses something of
the uninhibited enthusiasm as here. One of the soprano's tessituras
is another revelation and the tenors excel at the first big climax. The solo
tenor I did not admire. He sounds like Allan Jones in the super Marx brothers
film A Night At the Opera, rather light and sugary. The following
orchestral passage is played concertante and this quick tempo makes
the next entry of the chorus to be exciting and the timpanist is having a
really good day!
I have always thought that the passage for tenors and basses in unison is
weak but the sublime 'crying' strings that follow, which the chorus copy,
is one of those utterly sublime moments in all music and beautifully realised
here. The fugal passage is somewhat hesitant but packs a mighty punch and
reveals orchestral detail rarely heard. The brass sometimes sounds as if
it is playing Sousa and lacks polish ... if you will forgive the concealed
joke. The soprano is simply stunning in the next vocal quartet and the singing
is very moving indeed. The final pages are unbelievably good.
But, don't buy this performance because if you do you will see the flaws
in the modern performances by famous conductors and it may change your perception
of them.
What Toscanini shows us is that Beethoven was a genius and is,
perhaps, the greatest composer of all time.
Heartily recommended!
Reviewer
David Wright
Anita Dorfman (piano),
Jamila Novotna (soprano), Kerstin Thorburg (contralto), Jan Peerce (tenor),
Nicola Noscona (bass), Westminster Choir, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo
Toscanini 
