This description is exactly why I personally like the Harnoncourt so much...it is richly romantic while maintaining the structure that was still evident in composition at that time. I listened to the 9th by HVK '63, Hogwood, Furtwangler '54 and Harnoncourt while working last nite, and I really was amazed by the Harnoncourt. Not so much his other 8 symphonies...but for the 9th, Harnoncourt is my favourite.For all of those interested in the history of the 9th; this is a pretty good read...
On May 7, 1824, the premier of Beethoven’s ninth and last symphony pushed symphonic music into Romanticism. Napoleon had been overthrown. Byron, Pushkin, and Stendhal had advanced poetry and prose fiction; Delacroix, painting. Maturing as such political and artistic ferment mounted, Beethoven had discovered the “Ode to Joy” of Romantic literary forefather Friedrich Schiller 30 years earlier and employed it to sum up his art. Sachs discusses each movement of the Ninth in detail, from the terror and despair of the first to the anger and acceptance in the second to the peace of the third. The fourth begins with quotations from the its predecessors. Then, the bass vocal soloist interrupts to launch the movement into joy and hope. The Ninth influenced all subsequent nineteenth-century composers, who from Berlioz to Meyerbeer to Wagner built upon the foundations laid by Beethoven. This discussion of the cornerstone of Romantic music, whose influence extended deep into the twentieth century, is concise, thorough, and written from the heart of a great biographer, musicologist, and lover of fine music. --Alan Hirsch
Yes, I understand exactly what you mean though for me one of the true joys of larger scale works is the 'shimmer' from massed strings with the bloom or harmonic cloud that settles above the respective sections. ... Imo, this is partly a function of a system's ability to preserve and finely delineate subtle timing and micro-dynamic cues within the audio signal; precisely the sort of benefit one gets from attention to both clean power (eg, Typhons) and vibration control (eg, Stillpoints). As you have discovered with the Apertures, acoustic treatments are most important helpers to reduce signal smearing and allow this wonderful effect to reach the ears.
Massed strings serve partly as the rhythm section for the final movement of the Ninth with emphasis more so on the various soloists and choir. Critics observe Beethoven, after having written the first three movements and finding them good asks himself "what can I do to top those" and his answer is "a big choir!" - so your observation of it being 'concerto-esque' is quite apt, at least to me. W/out meaning to go off topic, try Peter Maag on Decca conducting Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave or his Scotch Symphony where strings predominate to hear the string emphasis (and ensuing shimmer) as it shifts across the soundstage from section to section. Or the opening to Sibelius' 6th or Wagner's Prelude to Act 1 of Lohengrin, etc. etc. Maybe you draw back in to symphonies.Sorry to rattle on - your note struck a chord with me!
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