The Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, known as Akamus, presents this weekend at the Festival de Lanaudière the Symphonies No. 3, 5 and 6 of Beethoven, in a historical musical context, where the “revolutionary” compositions of the master of Bonn are compared to scores close in spirit or context. Napoleon Bonaparte very appropriately brought together Paul Wranitzky and Beethoven on Friday.
Mirroring a genius with his contemporaries sometimes makes it possible to make fascinating discoveries. So it was when the CPO label released Schlemihl and The Sieger by Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek, biting symphonic portraits by Richard Strauss, or when Werner Ehrhardt of L’arte del Mondo made us realize that with The Scuola De’GelosiSalieri had composed Marriage of Figaro before the letter. The greatest rediscovery of the last 35 years remains that of the genius of Joseph Martin Kraus, an exact contemporary of Mozart, revealed by two CDs of Concerto Köln in the early 1990s.
A follower of Haydn
Most of the time, the series “The contemporaries of Mozart” or “The contemporaries of Beethoven” make it possible to highlight the talent of some against the genius of others. The name of Paul Wranitzky (born Pavel Vranicky in Moravia in 1756, but “Viennese” from the age of 20) had just appeared in the series of recordings “Contemporaries of Mozart” by Matthias Bamert at Chandos in 2002, at same title for example as his elders Christian Cannabich or Johann Baptist Vanhal.
Wranitzky (1756-1808) knew Kraus, who taught him, and evolved in the Haydn and Mozart circle. He was then very active as a conductor at court. He collaborated in Vienna with Beethoven, of which he created the 1st Symphony. His music, however, is much more Haydn than Beethoven. From the first chords of the Symphony op. 31 of Wranitzky we think of the beginning of Haydn’s oratorio The Creation, of which Wranitzky conducted the first performance. But, surprise, the symphony precedes the oratorio by two years! Akamus’ interpretive art is to upgrade this symphony to the Bamert recording. L’Opus 31 becomes a clear extrapolation of the “Military” Symphony (1794) by Haydn.
Historically amusing thing: the Large characteristic sinfonie for peace was music censored by imperial decree in 1797. It is true that the whole is a portrait of the French Revolution and the war against Austria. Let’s say that when Wranitzky composed a march for the fate and death of Louis XVI there, the Austrians could hardly forget that his wife Marie-Antoinette, an Austrian, had also lost her head and her life. They did not want to rehash these memories and those of the battles, despite the “Rejoicing for the Peace Agreement”.
In practice, this Opus 31 is formally a work in four movements, but each of these movements is subdivided into tableaux: English March, March of the Austrians and Prussians, The Fate and Death of Louis, Tumult of a Battle, Hopes for Peace, Rejoicing of the Peace Agreement, etc. Akamus “holds” the movements, while Bamert, in his recording, openly plays the card of the sequence of scenes.
Interpretative revaluation
The comparison leans very clearly in favor of Akamus, which highlights the warrior music with biting percussion. Moreover, the general balance highlights the woodwinds (“outdoor” instruments) placed to the right of the orchestra. Regarding the battle music, it should be recalled that as surprising as it may seem, Beethoven’s major “hit” during his lifetime was Wellington’s Victory (1813). There was therefore a craze for this music with great spectacle and sound deployment.
The Large characteristic sinfonie for peace is a very respectable curiosity. The points of interest are the program music aspect in a symphonic setting (which we will find with Knecht on Sunday in the framework of the Pastoral) and testimony to the strong presence of a post Haydn style ” Sturm und Drang in late 18th century Vienna.
On Friday, we admired the precision and range of nuances of Akamus led by their first violin and, above all, the beauty of the timbres of the winds (oboe, bassoon, flutes, natural brass).
The juxtaposition with Wranitzky enhanced the thunderclap of the 3rd Symphony of Beethoven: its opening, the dimensions of its 1st movement, the concentration of its funeral march, its orchestration.
An instrumental question
There remains a basic question on the whole project “Akamus plays Beethoven in Lanaudière”. Wanting to find a “sound” or dimensions of the composer’s time makes no sense in an abstract way. It all depends on the frame. What matters is the musical impact. In the hall of the Lobkowitz Palace where theHeroicthere were certainly few musicians, but the few spectators who still cared about it must have experienced quite a shock.
Despite the small number of musicians, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie (DKP) and Paavo Järvi in 2008 (on modern instruments) had a dazzling impact through their physical commitment. It should also be noted that the discs through the sound recording choices rebalance this dosage. The challenge for an orchestra like Akamus in Lanaudière (because the old instruments are less sonorous) was therefore to score enough.
Our fears focused on this point. They have been lifted. Akamus’ physical engagement is very comparable to DKP’s and the sound carries perfectly. The range of nuances is very palpable, down to the slightest quivering of the strings. The “competitive advantage”, that is to say the sound identity with color stripping, is therefore beautifully highlighted.
Akamus, who was partially used in the Beethoven cycle of Harmonia Mundi, but not for theHeroic, delivered an interpretation much better kept, logical and musical than the restless clowning of François Xavier Roth, who was entrusted with this masterpiece by the French publisher. The only limit of an interpretation led by a 1st violin is that when several lines overlap in the polyphony and it is necessary to go up one instrumental group in relation to another, it is very difficult for the instrumentalist in full action to enhance this or that nuance. Some phrasing also tends slightly to stiffness, but the defect is very marginal in an impressive ensemble.