Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Beethoven: Symphonies 1-3 Blu-ray Movie Review

An astounding Beethoven cycle offers the composer's opening triptych of symphonies.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 14, 2011

Sometimes from the vantage point of passing years, let alone passing centuries, “revolutions” don’t seem all that revolutionary. When we listen to the symphonies of Beethoven with our jaded 21st century ears, they can sound downright quaint and positively traditional at times. And yet when Beethoven burst upon the symphonic landscape in 1801, well attuned ears were probably stunned by the composer’s opening gambit. While there are certainly scores (no pun intended) of examples to the contrary from earlier times, the standard symphonic trope in those days was to start out your symphony with a statement in the key of the symphony, and more often than not that statement began with a tonic major or minor chord. And yet here was Beethoven, ostensibly working in the key of C, opening his symphony with a C7 chord. It was odd enough in and of itself to open with a dominant seventh, but a seventh based on the tonality of the symphony itself? Sheer audacity! And then Beethoven takes the listener on a rather madcap four bar phrase which includes a then-unusual set of chord changes which gets us at last to our real dominant seventh, G7. Except that Beethoven once again pulls the tonal rug out from under our ears and gives us instead a G major triad, with no seventh in sight. That seventh finally appears in the second half of the measure, albeit as a passing tone, but once again the composer completely defies expectations, and the standard musical vocabulary of the day, by taking us on yet another detour to remote tonalities. In fact we don’t even get to something approaching the key of C major until the thirteenth measure of the piece, when the first statement of the primary theme commences at the Allegro con brio score marking. To contemporary ears, none of this sounds particularly unusual or bracing, but to those early 19th century audiences, it must have seemed as if the musical sky were falling, and who knew what was around any cadence’s corner.

Christian Thielemann has become something of a revolutionary himself, with this first-ever cycle of Beethoven on Blu-ray. What’s even more iconoclastic about these releases is Thielemann’s sometimes surprising approaches to various pieces which have become so familiar to classical listening audiences that they become virtual musical wallpaper after a while. That propensity will almost certainly never be applied to these thrilling interpretations, which manage to reinvent each of the symphonies while staying true to the long and vaunted tradition of the Vienna Philharmonic. Thielemann is a master of exquisite phrasing and especially incredible control of dynamics, and he brings that attention to detail in each of these readings.

The First Symphony, despite sounding perhaps a bit tame to modern ears, is recast here by Thielemann in a decidedly post-Haydnesque demeanor. Beethoven was obviously trying to throw off the shackles of his mentor and Thielemann’s brisk reading throws light on Beethoven’s innovations. If the first movement’s Allegro con brio is rather surprisingly measured and even restrained, Thielemann lets his conducting hair down in a fierce account of the probably misnamed Menuetto, which of course plays much more like a traditional Scherzo.

As I mentioned in my review of Thielemann’s release of the fourth through the sixth symphonies, if one divides Beethoven’s symphonic output into three groups of three, there always seems to be an overlooked if not quite forgotten sibling within each trio. In the opening three symphonies, that overlooked item would no doubt be the Second. It’s as if audiences and even musicologists see the Third, the “Eroica,” as springing full blown from the compositional sea like Venus from the half shell, without the intermediary presence of the Second between the First and the Third. Thielemann is able to show the through-line as it were between these pieces, and he in fact programmed the Second to follow the First in one evening’s performance, a rather unusual occurrence, as surprising as that may sound. What this means is that the development of Beethoven’s technique becomes very clear as the night progresses, especially with regard to orchestration. If the First Symphony is obviously more redolent of Haydn’s approach to the orchestra, the Second begins to branch out with a heavier, more traditional “Beethovian” sound. Along with that greater grasp of the orchestral forces at his disposal, Beethoven also manages to evoke alternately ecstatic, almost tempestuous ideas with an often invigorating lyricism, and Thielemann’s amazing control of dynamics (especially in the third movement) brings the visceral impact of Beethoven’s writing fully into flower.

The “Eroica” Symphony is often seen as something purely triumphant in spirit, but as music historian Joachim Kaiser mentions in the brilliant documentaries accompanying the actual symphonies on this Blu-ray, Thielemann peeks behind the heroic curtain as it were to discover a world of doubt and even melancholy. Thielemann’s approach to what is probably the most famous and often performed of Beethoven first three symphonies is a study in analysis. While never foregoing the symphony’s obviously martial and victorious elements, Thielemann manages to invest a real sense of drama and dialectic into his reading, again due largely to his innate and often ingenious use of small tenuti and a really commanding sense of dynamics.

Two Beethoven Overtures, the Coriolan and the Egmont, wrap up this fantastic assortment of relatively early Beethoven pieces. With the Vienna Philharmonic fully compliant with Thielemann’s amazing command of Beethoven’s vocabulary, we are fortunate to have the first Blu-ray cycle of Beethoviana be one where the technology isn’t the featured player, so to speak, but the actual performances take center stage. These are in no way rote performances, and that may in fact put off some listeners who may take aural umbrage that Thielemann would deign to tinker with long established traditions. But for those with an adventurous listening spirit, Thielemann has more than proved his mettle with these releases, and he has managed to reinvent how we listen to Beethoven along the way, surely a remarkable achievement.

Beethoven: Symphonies 1-3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 3 arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of C Major and Unitel Classica, with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. As with the other releases in this cycle, we're granted a really sharp, nicely saturated looking image which offers a wealth of fine detail in any number of excellent close-ups. Camera coverage is exceptional throughout this release, and directorial choices are very smart, almost always focusing on sections which are the most involved with the musical content of the moment. There are some really lustrous browns and red-browns on this release, including some nicely polished bassoons, and a gorgeous gold flute also makes an appearance. There are a few aliasing artifacts, probably caused by the interlaced source material, but they're extremely transitory and probably won't bother most viewers.

Beethoven: Symphonies 1-3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with the other releases in this Beethoven Symphonic Cycle, Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 3 features two gorgeous lossless soundtracks, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and an LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. Both tracks are simply beautiful, though I highly recommend the incredibly spacious and inviting DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix if you have the equipment to handle it. Thielemann coaxes such an amazing dynamic range out of this orchestra that it's really mind boggling at times, and the DTS track effortlessly supports everything from whisper quiet winds to the bombastic fury of the tutti orchestra which Beethoven utilizes for his most tempestuous statements. Fulsome strings and warm inviting winds and brass sound simply eloquent on this release, which sports reference quality fidelity and a really lustrous and wonderfully nuanced hall ambience.

Beethoven: Symphonies 1-3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with the other two Blu-rays in this set, Discovering Beethoven, accompanying documentaries for each of the three symphonies, simply sets a new standard for music information in the high definition era. Symphony No. 1 (1080i; 51:34), Symphony No. 2 (1080i; 59:13) and Symphony No. 3 (1080i; 59:39) offer us music historian Joachim Kaiser and conductor Christian Thielemann poring over the ins and outs of these symphonies, relating both historical and musical facts about each of them. Not shy about comparing his interpretations to conducting masters of yore, Thielemann discusses snippets of other conductors' work, including Bernstein, Furtwängler, and Thielemann's own mentor Von Karajan. The entire historical context of Beethoven's era and approach to composition is explored in some detail, and at times there's a virtual note by note analysis of what is going on in each of these iconic works. As I've mentioned in my other reviews of this series, this is like sitting down at a Doctoral Thesis discussion between two extremely learned gentlemen, and Discovering Beethoven is simply unmatched in both its informational and entertainment value.

Beethoven: Symphonies 1-3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Classical music lovers have had a lot to celebrate as the Blu-ray era has started to reach its maturity, but there's probably no greater cause for celebration than these simply stunning new releases of the Beethoven Symphonies. Pieces which are heard as often as these are too frequently shunted to almost a "background noise" level by a lot of listeners, no matter how good their intentions may be. What Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic have managed to do, perhaps somewhat magically, is to reinvent each of these pieces and make them seem fresh and new. Bolstered by excellent image quality and reference quality audio, and featuring non pareil documentaries, one really couldn't ask for more in any of these releases. As with the other two Blu-rays in this set which have already been reviewed, Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 3 comes Very highly recommended.