Beethoven: Symphony No 7 & Triple Concerto

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Beethoven: Symphony No 7 & Triple Concerto album cover
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EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 7   Total Length: 74:34

eMusic Review 0

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Gavin Borchert

eMusic Contributor

Gavin Borchert is a composer and music critic living in Seattle.

04.22.11
One of the maestro's most rhythmic, tautly interpreted.
2006 | Label: LSO Live / IODA

"Apotheosis of the dance" is the epithet that has dogged this symphony since Richard Wagner made the observation in an 1849 essay, a commentary on the piece's emphasis on rhythm. This is particularly evident in the finale — no long melodies here, just the obsessive repetition of an Irish-reel-like tune — especially in Bernard Haitink's swift, taut, punchy performance. In the second movement, he never lets the lamenting, floating melodies bog down the relentless march tread underneath. (Or vice-versa, for that matter.) A feeling for dance rhythms (buoyant here, rather than obsessive) also mark this performance of Beethoven's generously-proportioned Concerto for violin, cello and piano.

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Moves along

TRenner

The entire album just flows along. I found it a very nice listen, never feeling as if it bogged down or that the orchestra or soloists were struggling with the tempos, which were spritely in a number of places. Very nice recording, over all, with good quality production.

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The Fall

emusic5years

I just saw "The Fall" over the weekend, that features Op. 92:: Allegretto. It added so much to the film. I loved it.

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Actual comment on the music

AgingMusicFan

The tempo of the 7th Symphony faster than versions with which I am more familiar. Preview and decide if you like it.

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itunes gapless play back

rglenncurry

If using iTunes to play your music under the Advanced menu you can join tracks. In the case of the Beethoven Triple Concerto just highlight the second and third movements and select join tracks. They will then play back seamlessly. Simple. No fuss. I have done this with many classical cds and mp3s with 100% success. iTunes also automatically checks for gapless playback information and often makes this adjustment on its own without my needing to use the join tracks function.

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avoiding breaks during bridging passages

peerless

There is a way which produces 100% success, if you have a CD player and a CD recorder, as follows. 1. In Itunes click Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Burning and select Audio CD > Gap Between 'Songs' - none. (Other software can do this but Itunes seems to produce the best results). 2. Burn the offending MP3 files onto a rewriteable CD (which you can later erase). 3. Copy the tracks onto another rewriteable CD with your CD recorder, but copy as one track. 4. Rip this CD onto your PC using Windows Media Player or any suitable software and you have one MP3 file which will play the two movements without a break, on any player. 5. Delete the two offending files and rename and drag the single file into their place. The process is well worth the effort, try Sibelius Symphony No.2 third and fourth movements which has the most horrendous break I have experienced.

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making 2nd mvt flow into 3rd

purplebirds

The gap problem is solved if you play the mp3 w itunes using the gapless play option. Go to "information about the track", select "options", and tick gapless play for the third track. ( I also made the three tracks a compilation and made the names of the three tracks alphabetical because I was using a smart playlist that misordered the tracks ...had to insert mvt 1, mvt 2, mvt 3 to the name of the track to achieve that) Works perfectly.

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mp3 gaps

Nantonos

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in eMusic but in the mp3 format, which is an underling. Er, that is to say, mp3 has lead-in gaps. Its the format. Nothing eMiusic can do, apart from switching to a format that does not have this flaw, like ogg/vorbis.

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emusic needs to address this fault

Scarpia

Once again Beethoven is hit by the emusic basic fault, namely that the system will simply NOT play him as he conceived his works. The Triple Concerto 3rd movement is meant to flow continuously and seamlessly on from the 2nd, yet here we are again with a break inserted between the two movements. It happens everywhere and Beethoven, who wrote so many works to have joined movements leads the way - his 5th and 6th symphonies; 4th & 5th piano concertos; violin concerto and now this, the triple concerto. When are emusic going to address this problem? You have been duly warned.

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