Beethoven - Symphony 3 [Davis-Staatskapelle Dresden]This is a lovely 6 disc box set, i've had this for about 5 years, i really don't have many full Symphony cycles of Beethoven, i much prefer collecting individual discs of the very best performances, but this is a good solid sound Beethoven cycle, nothing really revelatory, rather old style Beethoven, it comes in a cardboard box, very thick cardboard indeed, really solidly built.
Colin Davis is English, now 83 years old, this Symphony was recorded in 1991, very simple visuals on the outer slipsleeve of this set, the Roman numerals 9, with a dark very cloudy sky in the background.
Right from the first time i ever played this Symphony, i knew and could feel that the second movement Funeral March was a sheer revelation to me, this was in my very early days of falling in love with Classical music, i bought a tape [Karajan], and i played this thing to death i loved it so much, on the way to work and on the way home, those were glorious never to be forgotten days of Beethoven seeping into my soul, one thing i notice more than ever about the Marche Funebre second movement, is the extensive use of the oboe, it's used to pipe the main tune all over the place, the oboe first comes in with its beautiful solo tune [0:38-1:15], setting up the piece as a mournful slow march, round about the 5 minute mark the music changes, it becomes slightly faster, and certainly happier, and the oboe leads the way here too [5:20+], also the oboe leads the way into a heroic section [6:36+], where the music swells up and up into a forte fanfare [7:08+], my favourite part of the whole movement doesn't involve any solo oboe, it starts with brass swelling [9:17], the horns coming in [9:34], and the timpani and brass creating a real intensity [9:50], and then to finish off the high violins becoming frantic [10:06], this is just a superb section [9:17-10:24], how the hell does Beethoven create stuff like this?, the oboe comes back, repeating its opening lines [11:53+], but now the rest of the orchestra are like broken morse code, and the same again, but this time quick march oboe [13:19], the oboe plays further parts in the movement, and has a nice ending too, but it's not an instrument i've ever consciously noted before, but yet a great use of the oboe and its mood from Beethoven.
Here's Paavo Jarvi conducting the second movement on YouTube.
