Osmo Vanska, probably best known as the conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra in Finland, has become the musical director of the Minnesota Orchestra. In the process he and the orchestra are putting out a complete Beethoven symphonies cycle, at this point almost complete.
One could very well wonder why on earth we need yet another Beethoven cycle. After all, there’s Szell/Cleveland (still #1), four separate Von Karajan cycles (each subsequent version more homogenous and blander than the previous), those extraordinary David Zinman traversals (the best budget box set and one of the best Beethoven cycles ever), Furtwangler, Klemperer, Toscanini, Bernstein, Gardiner, oh….heck…..just tons and tons of the things.
But Vanska manages to make his set worth having, and then some. They are simply some of the most stunning Beethoven I’ve ever heard. Tempi are brisk (as would be expected from a modern performance) but not ridiculously speedy like some of the HIP recordings. The orchestra is modern, not period, but clarity is never lacking, nor is it swamped by strings.
In fact, there’s nothing to criticize in any of them, not really. The sonics are fabulous, the performances gorgeous. Probably the Ninth is the towering achivement of the set, but you’ve just got to try the Eroica, which is mesmerizing. And let’s not forget the slender maidens of the series — the Eighth and Fourth, both of which receive glorious performances.
They’re not quite finished: the disc with #s 2 and 7 is yet to appear. Once that happens, we have one of the best new Beethoven sets around, and just about the only one in my opinion which gives Szell/Cleveland a serious run for the money.