Norrington - Beethoven's 3rd Symphony (Eroica) 4th Movement

[artissimo777]

It is so funny to read most of the comments here. When one sais " it´s a bit too fast for me" one should bare in mind not whats fast for him or the conductor, but actually what the COMPOSER wrote!! Beethoven indicated Allegro molto and even wrote an exact metronome marking of a half note = 76 which is prety much the tempo of Roger Norrington, the only conductor i know who respects the wish of the man who wrote the music. Thank you sir Roger! ( you deserve this Sir thing :-)

[qw3rtydud3]

@artissimo777 Haha, agreed on all counts :)

[artissimo777]

@qw3rtydud3

Thanks mate :) Just checked your oboe concerto recording and loved it. How come the baroque oboe or your playing indeed sounds so velvety and warm?

[qw3rtydud3]

@artissimo777 Oh hahaha, that's not me at all. I'm not Anthony Robson, my channel picture just defaulted to a thumbnail my last video upload, which was that one. But I agree about his playing, he's incredible.

[TheJaHoli]

This is nice! He does a mean 2nd movent of the 9th too! Bernstein forever though,

[sstuddert]

@qw3rtydud3 it is marked Allegro molto, 76 minim beats a minute.

[atecia]

What orchestra is this?

[Huddiethegreat]

Finding the right tempo for this movement seems difficult...from 8:20 to 9:13 seems like it should be slower, yet the part right after, from 9:14 onwards seems to be at the perfect speed. Is the tempo in this performance really what Beethoven indicated or slightly faster?

[DuoContinuo]

@Huddiethegreat look at the score, there are changes of tempo in the 4th movement, the end is Presto, before this is a slower part....

[Huddiethegreat]

@DuoContinuo then Norrington doesn't take it as fast as it he should

[momojojo222]

maybe because the cd is skipping sherlock

[lurxtlifeson]

@momojojo222 I don't think it's a cd sherlock

If it was a skipping cd, the music would have been changed; it would not have stayed in tempo and parts would have been cut/repeated. The sound is just because it's an old/dirty record, that's why the sound is in a tempo of the record spinning.

For me, I'm just glad he posted this because I can't find Norrington recordings anywhere so I have to resort to youtube. No need to be so aggressive, especially when you don't know what you're talking about.

[lurxtlifeson]

@Huddiethegreat From what I understand (what my music theory professor tells me) conductors of Beethoven's Symphonies assume that his metronome markings were incorrect and they try to play the piece at the speed they think it should be played. However, Norrington, for these recordings, used period instruments and kept Beethoven's markings assuming they were correct in order to give a performance closer to what Beethoven intended. (I know you said this 7 months ago but oh well)

[willc2856]

Wow.. I've never listened to an historically performed interpretation of this before, and what immediately strikes me is a clarity and effervescence which I wasn't expecting. It's completely changed the way I think about this movement.

[sittingduckss]

Norrington's version is a historically informed performance. He tries to follow Beethoven's every direction, including tempo, repeats, and even pitch (you will notice that all the notes are played a little FLAT compared to the same note in the same key played today, because that's how it was back in the 1800's). The speed of this piece is, supposedly, exactly as Beethoven intended in the original scores.

[TheCrazyCello]

@sittingduckss It's not that the notes are "flat" so much as the whole piece is performed at a different pitch. Which happens to be lower, so everything is shifted down. An additional effect is that the instrumentalists are playing in a different temperament, so some notes will be (almost imperceptibly) flatter, or sharper, than those in the temperament used in modern performances. The other major difference is the historical instruments, which are all very different to modern equivalents.

[cantankerouslandlord]

This symphony used to take me to a lot of places. I've listened to it about a thousand times. In my opinion, it's Beethoven's most complex symphony.

[Ohaddo]

I know this isnt that important, but the score of this can be found at Petrucci music library. It says "halfnote"=76... But how do we clock this peace :O) Maybe some expert here can make it?! :)

[ClassicalMusicReview]

There is a great freshness here.But not just that.There is here a righteousness in the approach to tempo that is exhilarating.The conductor has revived the use of constantly applied accelerandi and subiti sforzandi,

which allows this to breathe wittily and freely through a sense of surprise. He approachs this in a way that renders it not as a dead icon...but as something vital.A part of us now...at this moment.Bravissimo!

[momojojo222]

there is a great freshness to how much you use a thesaurus.

[Impressionist1]

just perfect to me...Great tempo!Great spirit!

[metalhead326]

i love the beginning

it makes it sound like everything is falling apart

makes me want to drop acid

[buzboy123]

wonderful