Naxos releases yet another excerpt from Toscanini’s 1939 Beethoven cycle. Unfortunately, this time the available sources sound murky and noisy. As a result, the NBC Orchestra lacks both flesh and presence. Naturally, Toscanini’s conception doesn’t vary an iota from the other entries in this cycle. Although the acoustics don’t seem as ascetic as those of the notoriously dry NBC Studio 8H, the sound that Toscanini obtains from the orchestra keeps the same burning, stone-like quality. His highly energetic, at times disturbingly violent conducting brings the fire out of the musicians, and makes Beethoven’s music sound astonishingly “modern”. The Italian gives strong attention to the works’ rhythmic features, emphasizing the dynamic contrasts to show the constant interplay between tension and release in this visionary music. Some moments of the “Eroica” Symphony (the Scherzo, the Finale) still sound with tremendous physical impact. Naxos’ CDs come with all the surviving broadcast commentaries of the time, thus providing the listener an authentic slice of history.
