Symphonies nos. 1 & 5 (Complete symphonies vol.2)
Jan Willem de Vriend / The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra
CC 72364 - 0608917236422
According to the conductor Jan Willem de Vriend, in the Fifth Symphony you can hear the repressiveness and authoritarianism of the period of the Metternich government (with the reactionary Klemens von Metternich) in Vienna. It rings out in the motif of the first movement, and the entire symphony seems like a process of breaking free from it. However, every limitation can in itself present a kind of “freedom,” as certainly was the case with Beethoven’s deafness: not being able to hear the world around you creates the freedom to be able to hear yourself and use that experience to compose. The end of the Fifth has enormous riches of sound, with the piccolo as highest instrument and the contrabassoon with the trombones as lowest. It is like a triumphant march celebrating victory and sounds like liberation: it is irrepressible, you can feel it, the triumph. So it was in Beethoven’s life, not only personally, owing to his physical limitations, but also socially: how the Viennese were oppressed by the Metternich government, an unimaginable disappointment after the French Revolution. What had happened to freedom, equality and fraternity?
De Vriend has and continues to intensively study Beethoven – the man, his music, his time, teachers and predecessors – in order to gain the most complete image possible to serve as a framework for comprehending the symphonies. It is a never-ending study through which he keeps developing further insights, making each of his recordings of Beethoven’s symphonies valuable. Recordings, after all, convey not just the artistry of the composer, but of the conductor and his orchestra as well. (fragment of the linernotes by Valentine Laoût- van Leeuwenstein)
Auch mit der zweiten Folge aus seinem neuen Beethoven-Zyklus wagt Jan Willem de Vriend, zusammen mit dem Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, eine neue Sicht auf diese berühmten Werke. Mit enormer Leidenschaft und großem Engagement taucht er ein in Leben und Werk von Ludwig van Beethoven. Auch bei seiner Arbeit mit dem Combattimento Consort Amsterdam kam er sehr oft mit der Musik von Beethoven und dessen Vorgängern in Berührung. Dabei hat er das Bild jener Zeit gründlich kennengelernt, und mit diesen Kenntnissen kann er jetzt seine Geschichte in der Tat konstruieren.
"Hoe dan ook: deze enigzins geagiteerde uitvoeringen houden je voortdurend bij de les." Mania - 11 maart 2011
"Anyway, this slightly agitated performances keep you constantly alert." Mania - 11 march 2011
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1Symphony no. 1 op. 21 in C majorAdagio molto - Allegro con brio10:01
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2Symphony no. 1 op. 21 in C majorAndante cantabile con moto04:01
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3Symphony no. 1 op. 21 in C majorMenuetto (Allegro molto e vivace)06:16
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4Symphony no. 1 op. 21 in C majorAdagio - Allegro molto e vivace08:29
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5Symphony no. 5 op. 67 in c minorAllegro con brio08:58
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6Symphony no. 5 op. 67 in c minorAndante con moto04:46
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7Symphony no. 5 op. 67 in c minorAllegro06:36
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8Symphony no. 5 op. 67 in c minorAllegro07:05