Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 7 (Live)

Nikolaus Harnoncourt reached his widest public with his landmark studio recording of Beethoven’s complete symphonies, released in 1991. Yet it is still possible to be surprised by the freshness of his approach to such familiar works in these live performances with the Vienna Philharmonic recorded some 12 years later. Even the First Symphony, largely composed in the 1790s in the shadow of Mozart and Haydn, sounds fresh and enterprising. Harnoncourt’s biggest surprise, perhaps, is how relaxed and genial he makes its opening appear; he even gives the woodwind in the songlike second theme time to relax and breathe, rather than carry through the tensile spring of the strings’ preceding theme. So the ferocity of the development section that follows has a real impact. And that’s even before we’ve reached the punchy delivery of the third movement’s off-beat chords, which present a fine contrast to the effervescent, champagne-like finale. In the Seventh, Harnoncourt again disarms with a leisurely opening, very gradually building speed and momentum as we head for the main “Allegro” section. Wagner’s description of that symphony as “the apotheosis of the dance” makes total sense in this performance, where even the second movement appears graceful and full of movement—and with a touch of mischief as the fugue makes its incongruous appearance. After a vigorous third movement, Harnoncourt, as with the First Symphony, directs his orchestra to a fizzing finale which receives a well-earned roar of applause from his audience.