Shaham, Minnesota Orchestra, Vänskä, Royal Albert Hall

Vänskä works magic in Beethoven's Ninth and Shaham nearly matches in Berg

by Igor ToronyilalicSunday, 29 August 2010

Osmo Vänskä, whose 'opening pianissimo in the Ninth flirted with that extremity, walked the tightrope of audibility, and fizzed with a desire to become audible'.

A great deal of scepticism greeted the release of a new Beethoven symphony cycle from Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra in the mid-2000s. Would this lot really be able say anything that hadn't already been said by the hundred or so other cycles? Could anyone really find anything very new or fresh to say about these warhorses? The answer then was yes. And the answer last night in their Prom's performance of Beethoven's Ninth was also a resounding yes. Hardly surprising if you'd heard Vänskä's Bruckner the night before or his Sibelius cycle earlier this year. In Vänskä-land even stale buns come fresh.

Buy

Buy the Osmo Vänskä/ Minnesota Orchestra Complete Beethoven Symphonies box set on Amazon

Explore topics

Share this article

The future of Arts Journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more Classical music

Batsashvili, Hallé, Wong, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - a star in the piano universe The Georgian pianist brings precision and freedom to Liszt’s warhorses

Naumov, SCO, Egarr, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh review - orchestral magic rescues some punishing music Hard-driven Beethoven, monotonous Eötvös, some light from Kernis

Classical CDs: Shipping lines, sabre dances and sea lice Neglected piano concertos, Italian art songs and new music for trombones

Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan, St George’s Hanover Square review - Handel’s journey of a soul Pleasure gets the best deal despite Beauty’s struggle to higher things

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Marsalis, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - sounds above substance Phenomenal playing and conducting just about hold focus through an overlong symphony

Uproar, Rafferty, Royal Welsh College, Cardiff review - colourful new inventions inspired by Ligeti Unfussy professionalism from Wales-based new music ensemble

Attacca Quartet, Kings Place review - bridging the centuries in sound Grammy-winning quartet bring more American punch than Gallic je-ne-sais-quoi to Ravel

Manchester Collective, RNCM review - exploring new territory The string quartet – plus percussion and electronics – goes on a journey

Bavouzet, BBCSO, Stasevska, Barbican review - ardent souls in mythic magic Vivid realisation of fantastical masterpieces by Bartók, Ravel and Janáček

Levit, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Fischer, RFH review - anger unleashed, fantasy finessed in Prokofiev Instant communication from Berlin-based pianist and Hungarian army of generals

A Form of Exile: Edward Said and Late Style, CLS, Wood, QEH review - baggy ferment of ideas and sounds Superlative actors and musicians in an over-ambitious event running to three hours

BBC Philharmonic, Bihlmaier, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - an International Women's Day special Spotlight on today’s composers and one of their sisters from the past

Follow @theartsdesk