Search - Beethoven Symphony No 9 & Wagner Siegfried Idyll / Leinsdorf, Boston Symphony on DVD

Leinsdorf/Boston/1965: Cool Perfection

Music Lover in the Canyon | Silverado, CA | 05/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These 1965 performances, culled from "Evening at Symphony" broadcasts, reveal the strengths and weaknesses of Leinsdorf's tenure in Boston. What may be first apparent to viewers is Leinsdorf's astonishing technique: every semiquaver is in place, every fermata precisely judged, every instrumental entrance duly noted. Yet the effect of these immaculate performances on the listener's imagination or spirit is close to negligible. The Wagner excerpts are beautifully played but dead on the ears; the propulsive Beethoven Ninth is exciting at times, but like the Wagner, cleanness of execution and fidelity to the score replace emotional engagement.

Why then five stars? There's a sense of occasion here, a seriousness of purpose, and a depth of approach that is rare today in concert and in recording. You can see this intensity in the faces of the audience members, in the musicians, and in the conductor who are communally involved in making something significant of this moment. Leinsdorf and Boston in 1965: a musical event that nothing today comes close to.
"