Beethoven: Egmont

 

Most will recognize the title Egmont from Beethoven's famous overture. Fewer people recognize that Overture is part of a longer piece of incidental music meant to accompany the stage play of the same name.

George Szell's classic performance from 1969 with vocal solo and German narration is widely considered among the very best, not that I expect there are many such recordings. Soon I will traverse another from Leif Segerstam on Naxos, and I remember another classic account from Karajan, but this Decca recording remains fine all the same. If only there were more of Beethoven's music attached to it.

A review from 2020

George Szell leads the Vienna Philharmonic from the late 60’s in Beethoven’s incidental music to the play Egmont. This London Records album includes all of the spoken dialog that accompanies the music alongside soprano soloist Pilar Lorengar.

Beethoven’s Egmont is a militaristic romp most notable for its overture. The ensuing music past that famed overture is a series of orchestral entr’actes and two soprano solos. The instrumental features are entertaining enough with a mix of the pastoral and the militant, but it is all quite charming, and the story itself is rather moving in this performance. The two solos for soprano are an unusual romp of soldiering bravado, far from the teary-eyed Romantic yearnings you might expect from a piece of drama. The overture itself has the mark of Szell all over it, with painstaking attention to articulation that is glossed over in most recordings, but it also has the weight and attack a listener relishes from a top-drawer ensemble like Vienna. And as is the case with Beethoven, his wind work is always enjoyable, as it is here.

Complete performances of the incidental music from Egmont are not numerous, so I think I can easily call this a first-choice recording. George Szell’s leadership is energetic, and the Vienna Philharmonic seems on board with his brand of leadership, one that had The Cleveland Orchestra turned into a well-oiled machine. Pilar Lorengar’s moments are well sung and full-voiced for the more effusive settings by Beethoven. German actor Klaus-Jürgen Wussow narrates the tale of Egmont and while my German is a poor judge, he is easy to listen to and is particularly stirring in the finale - a full-blown, rousing call of arms. If you don’t like spoken dialog alongside orchestral music, this probably won’t be your cup of tea, but most of it can be skipped if it doesn’t appeal.

Decca’s sound is crystal clear on their “Classic Sound” series, the Vienna PO is captured up-close and personal, and both soloist and speaker are heard to great effect. Once or twice we get some moanings from Szell, but overall, he keeps quiet. The only downside is the 48-minute runtime, a rather skimpy recording time, albeit an excellent one. This performance was paired with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, also on London, another release was paired with Pierre Monteux’s Rosamunde on Decca, although I am unsure if it ended up in the Szell box set, but I am overall happy to have this standalone performance. All of the texts and translations are included in the physical media.

The other two performances of Egmont’s incidental music come from The Great Von Karajan on DG and Leif Segerstam on Naxos. Karajan eschews all of the spoken dialog up until its conclusion and includes other militaristic Beethoven music; Karajan also has soprano Gundula Janowitz on hand. Segerstam goes the other direction by including all of the dialog, similar to Szell. Unfortunately, no one is going to mistake Segerstam’s regional Finnish orchestra for the Vienna Philharmonic, certainly not aided by Naxos’ tubby sound, and Szell’s leading has a taut, forward snap that escapes the Naxos release.

All in all, I don’t think this is essential listening from Beethoven, but it is enjoyable and often captivating listening. London’s sound is excellent, and the bits of voice-acting and singing are well done with special kudos to Wussow’s rousing conclusion. George Szell is at home with Beethoven’s music, and this recording has energy, drama, and musicianship to spare.

 

 

Work
Egmont, op. 84

Soloists
Pilar Lorengar, soprano
Klaus-Jürgen Wussow

Performers
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
George Szell, conductor

Label: Decca
Year: 1970; 1996
Total Timing: 47.44

If you want to try out Beethoven's incidental music to Egmont, this is as good a place as any.

Too bad there isn't more music paired with the 45-minute work.

Find more Beethoven recordings HERE!