Beethoven - Symphony 5 [Jochum-Concertgebouw Orchestra]
Die Funften!, The Fifths, the Symphony and the Piano Concerto, and what a combination, it's a wonder that this coupling isn't more common, the last time i played this disc, the Piano Concerto was a revelation, Kovacevich is a genius in that work, but this time i loved the symphony the best, Jochum isn't a favourite conductor of mine, and i don't have many discs of his, but this is a lovely addition to my collection, i found this disc on Ebay, never knew it existed before, as it's probably a German issue, but i'm glad i acquired it.
Eugen Jochum was German [1902-1987], i think this was recorded in 1969, the booklet cover is great, showing a bust of Beethoven, some fantastic light coming in from the left, making some nice contour shadows on his face, the background has nice shades of grey, it was inspirational to call it 'Die Funften', celebrating these two wonderful works, the whole thing looks great.
Well this time i enjoyed the second movement from Jochum, not one i usually find a favourite, but here it just sounds so exciting, the Fifth doesn't have an Adagio, so we get an Andante instead, after a subdued start, we get the full force of the theme in the military brass [1:19-1:39], and repeated again a little later [3:25-3:48], there's this march theme throughout, at times it can be subdued, and other time it can be robust, i like these forte passages, and one appears in the strings [7:46-8:10], and right after there's a delicate echo by the woodwind [8:10-8:21], for the beginning of the coda, there's a lovely bassoon rhythm [8:37-8:50], and some of the best music is at the close, again the sweet strings make some melancholy music [9:15-9:38], it's a movement that can easily be 'forgotten', sandwich between some of the most glorious music Beethoven ever wrote.
Here's Pletnev conducting the second movement on YouTube.
Eugen Jochum was German [1902-1987], i think this was recorded in 1969, the booklet cover is great, showing a bust of Beethoven, some fantastic light coming in from the left, making some nice contour shadows on his face, the background has nice shades of grey, it was inspirational to call it 'Die Funften', celebrating these two wonderful works, the whole thing looks great.
Well this time i enjoyed the second movement from Jochum, not one i usually find a favourite, but here it just sounds so exciting, the Fifth doesn't have an Adagio, so we get an Andante instead, after a subdued start, we get the full force of the theme in the military brass [1:19-1:39], and repeated again a little later [3:25-3:48], there's this march theme throughout, at times it can be subdued, and other time it can be robust, i like these forte passages, and one appears in the strings [7:46-8:10], and right after there's a delicate echo by the woodwind [8:10-8:21], for the beginning of the coda, there's a lovely bassoon rhythm [8:37-8:50], and some of the best music is at the close, again the sweet strings make some melancholy music [9:15-9:38], it's a movement that can easily be 'forgotten', sandwich between some of the most glorious music Beethoven ever wrote.
Here's Pletnev conducting the second movement on YouTube.
