Dir: Wojciech Rajski
If I would have to use a single word to try to describe this recording I would use the word energy, this recording is bursting with sound energy rhythm and color. The second word I would use is clarity, we hear a staggering amount of music details throughout the whole recording. I would qualify TACET genius tonmeister Mr Andreas Spreer of emeritus sound sculptor.
I have included a graph to explain the position of instruments related to the listener and speakers. Sitting at the normal center position (A on the graph) what will most surprise you is the presence of the strings from the back and the winds at the front. I call this choice revenge of the winds! But I also think Mr. Spreer likes to (tastefully) surprise his customers/listeners and I think here he was calling our attention to the fact that if you look at Beethoven music there are a lot of notes written for winds that are as important as what the strings are playing. In passing my graph shows the layout for the Eight, in the seventh the second violins are opposed to the first.
Another thing I have to say about this recording is the quality of the sound take of the instrument themselves. For example I have never heard tympani so well recorded. For the winds (such as flute and french horn) I would try to describe a sense of projection of the sound and air around the instrument. We feel a bit in the orchestra, but in a perfect acoustical setting where each instrument has space to bloom. For the strings the texture is very natural and sweet (no metallic aggressiveness) and there is a very distinct sense of size between the lower strings, altos and violins, it is impossible to mismatch them.
I have listened to this recording at least 20 times, and many times with a condensed score. I do not think it is necessary to read music to appreciate it. But in this case it was really nice to follow the score and hear so much of what is on paper, all the change of dynamics and the inner musical lines are all there.
The conductor Mr Rajski extracts the maximum from his orchestra. It is a strong interpretation with a focus on respecting the score in terms of tempos, nuances and rhythm. My only small regret is that the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra is not the Berlin Philharmonic. This is more obvious in certain solo passages or in certain fast string sections. Nonetheless this is playing of a very high order which is superior to probably 90% of the Beethoven Symphony recordings.
1-Poco sostenuto-vivace
The first chord of the symphony is like a jolt, this chord sounds huge with the full weight of a tympani there in your listening room. The reflection of that first chord makes us perceive an impressing sounding space that has nothing to do with an ordinary listening room in a house. The oboe sings floating in the air followed by a clarinet and then a horn, there is a huge space between and around instrument (I am lacking words to describe something so different than any orchestral recording I have heard before).
The first intervention of the string playing a scale from the back may surprise you, but notice the quality of the sound take, the difference of texture, space and weight between the lower strings and violins. The music of Beethoven takes a larger dimension and it never sounded so good to my ear (of course I mean compare to other recordings). At 1:18 (bar 22) oboe solo supported by clarinets, bassoons and then strings. At 1:38 (bar 29) nice orchestral pp followed by a long crescendo, this recording has an excellent dynamic range. Elegant scales played by the strings are sustained by the pulse of the tympani. This progression is interrupted by a well played flute solo where the instrument is very precisely positioned, but also resonates across the whole sound space. The transition toward the vivace is effortless, each chord resonates before plunging into the 6/8 rhythm at bar 64 (3:37).
The clarity of the sound take allows hearing every little intervention in the music, but it has also the (apparently contradictory) effect of making the listener aware of the larger structures of the music. For example the long crescendo until bar 110 (4:35) can be heard as one long unified musical line.
After a long repeat that brings us to 8:00 (bar 177) a string section again remind us of the quality of the sound take for the lower strings. At 8:49 (bar 220) various fragments played by woodwinds, very good coordination between the instrument, and the tempo and the pulse is maintained even in the softer passages. Starting at a 9:05 (bar 236) a long crescendo that culminates at 10:00 where the music takes an heroic dimension ( I know this is the seventh not the third!).
At 10:20 interestingly the conductor let the oboe player do a short cadenza on the hold note at bar 300 before continuing with the written music. In the final section that concludes the movement, the orchestra shows poise and cohesiveness. At the very end (13:05, bar 441) it is again the horns that dominates the final orchestral tutti.
2-Allegretto
After a short chords by the winds, the main them is played first by the altos, cellos and bass, simply, without any accompaniment. The nuances (transition to pp at bar 9, 0:31) and the articulation (two eight notes staccato) are scrupulously followed by the conductor (this should be a given, but is not). This noble theme is repeated several times, each time with more instruments, more accompaniments up to the tutti at bar 75 (2:07). But is gained in power does not mean that the recording looses its transparency. Even in the loudest passages the bass and all inner lines are still audible.
At bar 100, total change, the music becomes tranquil and flowing, the listener is surrounded by these long musical lines and feel like floating in space. The solo woodwinds are supported by strings, themselves supported by lower strings. Again we hear all the layers of the music, but they are also fusing together, there is no impression of listening to 5 speakers, nor to listening to some cheap artificial manipulations of the sound.
At bar 144 (4:04) long flowing descending scales that are exchanged to several orchestral sections to ends with all the gravitas of the basses. Just after that what was the secondary theme at the beginning becomes the main melody sung by woodwinds (flute, oboe, and bassoon) from bar 150 to 180. From bar 183 (5:10) a counterpoint section starts pp and climbs up to an ff at bar 214 (5:56). This is rapidly dissipated by a return to the tranquil music (first at bar 100) now at bar 224 (6:13). But this time peace is short lived and is interrupted by the return of the main them at bar 244 (6:42). This theme is repeated in fragments by different instruments to conclude the movement.
3-Presto Assai – Assai Meno Presto
Here the rhythm is irresistible, each attack has weight and it is impossible not to tap the beat with your feet. This is very clean and intricate playing by the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra. As with all tracks of this SACD, there is a lot of musical information just jumping at you. For example nearly at the beginning (bar 24, 0:22) a quick chaining of 3 notes goes from bass/cellos to altos and finally the violins. This is obvious because spatially and term of instrument size we know exactly which section is playing. The same pin point precision is heard in the following woodwind passage.
Starting at bar 181 (2:36 to 3:00), the woodwind play a flowing melody supported by 2 horns playing in their lowest register, the horn gradually increase the volume and they become the main focus. As usual I will have to repeat myself and say that I have never heard this passage so clearly in any other recordings. At the end of the slower section and at the return to presto there is an exciting contrast between ppp and f . Even better is the subsequent decrescendo to p and then pp (at bar 300, 4:25). Again a beautiful union of fantastic recording technique and excellent work by the conductor and orchestra, this is heavenly. After a section where strings and winds answer each other with exciting trill we come back to the slower tempo with horns, clarinets and bassoons (bar 409, 5:20) Unfortunately the bassoon and clarinet are not up to par with the rest of the orchestra (but this is evidently something TACET cannot do anything about). At bar 459 (6:48) magnificent tympani rolls and one more time I have to say they have such marvellous presence and weight on this recording.
4- Allegro con brio.
Two things to point out right at the beginning are 1- great rhythmic energy and 2- the unusual balance between strings and winds. While the strings play a fast motif in sixteenth the winds support the melody by a pattern in eighths which creates a wave effect. This really sounds different and of course this approach can be debated compared to a traditional recording where strings dominate, but one thing is sure we hear a lot more of what is written.
The first horn fanfare burst out at 0:30 (bar 24) and we hear very well the high Gs. Same thing for the tympani accent followed by 2 sixteenth notes played by the woodwinds. Even in the more complex passages (like bar 53, 0:52) with repeated chords played by all the winds it is possible to hear each instrument (like the second clarinet and second oboe) without losing the sense of unity of each chord (in fact they sound richer and fuller). Another good example of the precision of this recording is the spatial positioning between the violins and the cellos/bass which are accompanying with pizzicatos (bar 64, 1:01) .
At bar 104 (1:30) the whole orchestra is playing ff chords (eighths), nonetheless we clearly hear a few bars later whirlwind patterns played by the second violins and altos. Because they are spatially distinct the violins do not mask these inner lines. There are sforzando (accent) on the second beat which are evident and add to the overall feeling of pulse and brisk speed. This is a very nice real-time tutorial on Beethoven’s writing skills!
After a repeat we arrive at 3:30 (bar 126) to a section where a lot of the sound energy is coming from lower strings. We hear the bass players digging in their strings to give added punch to their attack. Again there is that sense of size and weight that gives them great physical presence. In the whole section from bar 166 to 190 (~4:10) a musical motif with a quarter and eighth with a sforzando on the quarter is hammered by the musicians, and again these details just jumps out of the recording.
There is a huge dynamic contrast between the soft flute solo followed immediately by an full orchestral ff (bar 210 to 221, 4:55). A little bit later (bar 290, ~6:00) during some woodwind solo playing, again this sense of air around the instrument and that remarkable acoustical feeling of the recording venue.
After another exciting ff section we hit bar 341 (6:34) where a pause follows a eighth and two sixteenths and another eighth. Again marvelous resonance of the last chord through the acoustic of the hall. A bit further (bars 350-400. ~6:55) listen to the lower strings playing a menacing pattern of quarter notes which supports altos and violins that exchange quick sixteenths motif. Again there is that sense of texture to every notes. At the end there is a tremendous burst of energy and pulse in the final sets of ascending scales and we here every sforzando (there are a lot!) written by Beethoven.
Eighth Symphony
1- Allegro vivace e con brio
As previously discussed, the SACD booklet explains that for the eigth the violins are not antiphonal to each other, but the positioning at the back of the listener is violin 1,2 altos, cellos and bass. But to my ears this is not the only difference in the sound presentation. The orchestra seems to be closer to the listener, and more direct, more muscular. I think this is a choice of our sound take virtuoso Mr. Spreer, to slightly change his approach to suit the music. The downside is we loose a little bit of the acoustic presence of the instruments, but again this is subtle, more like a different flavor.
Right from the go, this first movement is all about speed and power. Behind the first violins playing the melody at bar 13 (0:15) we hear all the supporting motifs playing by the other strings, as in the Seventh this clarity make the music feel alive and fresh. After a louder section, at bar 73 (1:19) a legato melody is sung by the woodwinds dolce. Again very good dynamic contrasts. A little bit further a bar 92 (1:40) nice work by the strings on the arpeggios section that conclude the first repeat.
My favourite passage of the whole symphony starts at bar 144 (4:25) where the theme is broken in fragment and repeated by the different orchestral sections in a chromatic progression full of anger up to a full fff at bar 190 (5:18) with an triumphant return to the bright F major tonality. The sound take again makes us hear all the details without loosing the overall focus of the music. Nice mention to the horns that have a beautiful tone, can project their notes without forcing the sound, and play in tune.
Is everything perfect in this recording? At bar 304 (7:18) there is a clarinet solo, it sounds bad and is out of tune (the same problem will occur in the third movement). But this bad taste is quickly removed by the excellent work of the strings, for example in the ascending scales. At the very end the orchestra repeat 3 chords separated by a one bar pause, again even the silence sounds beautiful in this recording.
2-Allegretto scherzando
The second movement is very short, less than 4 minutes. The conductor keeps the metronomic tempo from beginning to end. The music is played with humour and gusto. My only small deception is that the dynamic is a little less stellar than in the other tracks (this is not technical, but more an artistic choice of the conductor). There is a lot a brisk transition to ff that sounds more like an mf in my opinion. For example at bar 23 (1:04) and bar 25 (1:08) the strings are supposed to played ff a fast thirty-second notes passage. The level of details hear through the multi-channel recording again makes many details stand out, such as the good work by the lower strings. A good example of this is the whole section starting at bar 46 (2:06).
3-Tempo di Menuetto
In terms of number of notes written on paper, the third movement is even shorter than the second, but with multiple repeats it adds up to 5 minutes and a half. The first part is taken at a brisk tempo and in a solid manner that fit very well the music. The sound take again makes us hear the work of all string sections. The middle part (bar 44, 2:09) is a trio with 2 french horns, a cello (basso continuo) and one clarinet. On this recording we hear the cello work much better than usual and the two horns are magnificent. Unfortunately I cannot say the same thing about the clarinet player, but this being my own instrument I can be very picky about this.
4-Allegro Vivace
As for all the movements on this recording, the conductor choose a fast tempo for this vivace movement, again congratulations are in order for the timpanist which sustain this tempo in many passages in this movement. Again in this movement there are multiple dramatic stops where a chord as time to resonates in the magical acoustic space created by this recording. In particular in this movement it is really adding a sense of presence of a full orchestra.
Right at the beginning Beethoven is going for maximum contrast, the fast and happy theme is played by the violins for the first 14 bars, it falls to a ppp, and without transition is followed by a full orchestral tutti at ff. This contrast is of course reproduced here with all the desired punch.
A little bit further a section in a minor tonality (bar 120, 1:37) takes a really dark aspect here, with the various accent hammered through the section. Right after bar 157 listen to the nice pp where a bassoon is accompanied by the tympani, the timpanist play so softly that we just hear a soft sound similar to a drum. A bit later (bar 178, 2:24) another pp to ff transition where this time the strings are really belting it out supported by long stately chords by the winds.
I will jump to the very end for a last comment. At bar 450 (6:04) the long chords (4 beats each) are played by every winds sustained by strings playing eighth notes. A few bars later the same chords are repeated but p and played by only 2 instrument each chords, I did not hear this repetition before simply because generally at that point the soft wind chords are buried by the strings, here they are easy to hear and add a sense of unity. Again at the very end the symphony closes with a series of chords (quarter notes) and instead of sounding repetitive the acoustic resonance of the full orchestra gives a grandiose cast to the last bars.
Great news the SACD cover mention «TACET’s Beethoven Symphonies» so this probably means more are coming. Please Mr. Spreer use the same magic formula for the next multi-channel recording and keep them coming!
C : Me feeling like I am playing the first clarinet.
D : For the nostalgic of Karajan 1960 (accent on the violins)
E : For those missing Karajan 1978 (accent on lower strings)
F : For the frustrated reviewer in audio magazine that do not understand multi-channel at all. (my 4 QUADSs are dipoles) so from F its sound like a stereo recording with the strings in front and the winds far away!.