Beethoven
Symphonies Nos 2 & 7
National Symphony Orchestra/Gianandrea Noseda
NSO NSO0011-D (digital) 70:26 mins
The already-established, propulsive Beethoven cycle by Gianandrea Noesda and his National Symphony Orchestra in Washington (based at the Kennedy Center) continues with two major-key symphonies well suited to his forceful, high-energy style: the Second in D and the Seventh in A. Noseda drives the Second Symphony with unconcealed glee, and his players are equal to the speeds he sets (these often approach Beethoven’s controversial metronome marks). This doesn’t exclude eloquence: I especially liked the coda of the second movement, with its gently rising flute arpeggios. That said, it does create some balance problems: in the first movement Allegro con (plenty of) brio, the blaring brass in bar 52 drown the swirling strings (to pick just one example). On the other hand, as the climax approaches, you surely need to hear more of the dotted rhythms from the horns in bar 166 onwards.
Noseda cultivates admirably sharp sforzandos, though – as in previous instalments – there is a tendency to over-deliver early in the movement, so that here the thrilling climax from bar 325 onwards cannot quite have its full impact. But all the wit of the finale is captured, creating surprises without any need to overdo the pauses.
If the Second Symphony unwinds like a coiled spring, the Seventh is spendidly drawn in bold gestures and strident rhythms, which have momentum even through the tensest passages of the first movement. It’s worth highlighting the fine solo wind playing from bassoon and flute (though oddly missing grace notes in the flute’s opening of the Vivace). The Allegretto is a little rhythmically staid, with not enough feeling of longer expressive phrases, and in the Trio of the third movement the eerie repeated low horn phrases are underplayed. But Noseda caps it with an electrifying finale, with the NSO strings virtuosically active. Crucially, for once, enough is kept in reserve for the tumultuous coda. Nicholas Kenyon