George Szell brings classical lightness and drive to Beethoven’s early symphony, all the while pointing up the composer’s daring formal and harmonic inventiveness. In the first-movement introduction Szell achieves authentic-performance-style clarity yet maintains a welcome solidity of orchestral tone (without becoming weighty) before springing zestfully into the allegro proper. Only the finale, although done with much finesse and polish, sounds a bit restrained compared to the quicksilver renditions of Harnoncourt and Gardiner.
Szell’s Pastorale is one of the great recordings, full of feeling and sinuous beauty. The first movement glides on one sustained breath, the Scene by the Brook soars gently, the storm surges powerfully (with ideally balanced timpani), and the finale shines brightly due to the ringing playing of the Cleveland strings. Like Bernstein, Szell milks the great final climax for all its emotional worth. But there’s still more: a positively gripping–and ferociously played–account of the Egmont overture follows. Szell heightens the drama right from the terse opening bars on through to the passionate and triumphant close. The remastered 1960s recordings capture the full bloom of the Severance Hall acoustic. This one’s a classic, and you should have it.
