Kurt Masur’s steady and dependable Beethoven is a known quantity via his two complete symphony cycles on Philips. These new performances, recorded live in Paris in November, 2002 reveal a new vibrancy and verve in No. 2, with the Orchestre National de France playing with a lighter touch than its Leipzig counterparts. Masur seems to have caught wind of the current fashion in Beethoven interpretation, with quick tempos in the adagio and scherzo movements and bristling energy and crisp rhythms in the first movement and finale.
Unfortunately, Masur’s Pastoral creates far less interest. With moderate-to-slow tempos, accents that don’t draw much attention to themselves (the storm is neat and tidy rather than terrifying), and with a limited emotional range (the finale comes nowhere near the euphoria generated by Bernstein), this is a Beethoven Sixth that once heard easily fades from the memory. The sound, low level and somewhat diffuse, is noticeably inferior to the bright and clear recording for Symphony No. 2. So, here is a half-good Beethoven disc, and not what you need–unless you’re irresistibly curious to hear what Masur’s been doing since he left New York.
