Beethoven: Symphony No.3 'Eroica' & Symphony No.8

While it’s true that the Minnesota Orchestra has made a number of distinguished recordings, most notably with Antal Dorati (in those days it was operating as the Minneapolis Orchestra), it’s fair to say that their Beethoven symphonic cycle with Osmo Vänskä for BIS is the most prestigious recording project in the orchestra’s history. The first CD in the series, which paired the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, was released in 2005 to universal critical enthusiasm. “His account of the Fifth…bristles with character” wrote Richard Osborne in Gramophone, adding that the Fourth was comparable with Karajan’s 1962 Berlin version (high praise indeed). It’s a record that I’ve returned to many times over the last year, and the newcomer is every bit as moreish.

Vänskä’s control of long-term crescendos is as thrilling as it is rare, I can’t wait to hear him doing the Pastoral. The many pianissimo markings are scrupulously observed without any loss of tension. In fact, the dynamic range is so wide that you may have trouble finding a satisfactory playback setting, I had to turn the wick up several notches above my normal setting to be able to hear the most extreme quiet dynamics. Vänskä’s Beethoven is in the tradition of Toscanini and Erich Kleiber, classically proportioned (the Eroica’s final movements feel as if they are part of a logical narrative, which is by no means always the case), lean-textured and quick without feeling metronome-bound or relentless.

After a satisfyingly long pause (I wish that all record companies would leave a decent gap between pieces) the Minnesotans explode into the opening of the Eighth Symphony. Once again, dynamic contrasts are pushed to the extreme, and Vänskä misses none of Beethoven’s raucous jokes, the timing of the first movement’s final pay-off is worthy of Eric Morecambe. I also love the way that he drives into the first movement’s recapitulation, Beethoven asks for a fff dynamic (very rare for this composer), and for once he gets it.

Osmo Vänskä has already established international reputations for the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (he makes a keenly-anticipated return to Glasgow in November, when he performs Sibelius’s rarely-heard Kullervo Symphony). On taking up his new appointment in Minnesota, he said that his goal was to make the orchestra the greatest in the country. He seems to be well on the way to achieving this ambition; on this showing, the Minnesotans have nothing to fear by comparison with their colleagues in Boston, Cleveland or Chicago, this is excellent playing by any standards. If you’re in Edinburgh in August, you’ll have a chance to hear them live on August 25th, don’t miss them whatever you do!