Harnoncourt Conducts the Beethoven Fifth

For many years now Nikolaus Harnoncourt has been studying early music and conducting it too with period instrument groups such as his own Concentus Musicus. But he often conducts other orchestras too and is known for bringing a fresh approach based on his vast experience with period performance practice. In this video he leads the Berlin Philharmonic in the first movement of the Beethoven Symphony No. 5. If you are expecting something wild and vastly different from what you are accustomed to hearing in this familiar music you will be disappointed. The famous opening bars sound pretty much the same as they always do and there are no jaw-dropping surprises. Instead, we hear an exciting, powerful and very well-played performance. There are minor adjustments in phrasing and dynamics but Harnoncourt deviates very little from what Karajan, Abbado and Rattle have done in the same music with the same orchestra.

Paul E. Robinson