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Crisp, refreshing period instrument Beethoven Oct 14, 2011
By G.C. Christopher Hogwood and Roger Norrington conducted roughly parallel recorded Beethoven symphony cycles with their respective period instrument orchestras (which actually had many of the same players between them), in the commercial recording heyday for those ensembles in the 1980s. Hogwood's began truly at the beginning, with Beethoven 1 and 2. 20+ years on, these performances remain very crisp and refreshing, even if the HIP ideas of smaller orchestras and faster tempi have generally caught on more in contemporary Beethoven orchestral performances. Factoring in the relatively brisk tempi, the performances are quite "straight" and unmannered, leaving the past era of Furtwangler-like free phrasing well behind. This recording is still worth hearing now.