Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

Giovanni Antonini spurs Kammerorchester Basel and the sonorous NFM Choir to reach (and often exceed) the speeds set by the score’s metronome marks, mostly attributed to Beethoven himself. The results are exciting, thanks not least to immaculate playing and choral singing, and Antonini’s laser-beam focus on presenting the work as a living organism, striding forward on a determined march towards the symphony’s famous “Ode to Joy”. The gloriously lyrical slow movement sings its heart out, as if confessing a secret love, preparing the ground for the finale’s blazing hymn to universal brotherhood.