25. January 2003, Lauschangriff 2/03

Die faszinierend fruchtbare Integration...

Die faszinierend fruchtbare Integration des nur in den Augen der Gewohnheit Unvereinbaren gehört zum Selbstverständnis des Frankfurter Ensemble Modern (EM). Unter Leitung des ungarischen Komponisten Peter Eötvös (dessen zeroPoints auf der selben CD zu hören ist) vermittelt die Avantgarde-Kapelle Beethovens 5. Sinfonie mit rockmusikgemäßem Sound-Design. Sie spielt das eher in denkmalhaft monumentaler Interpretation bekannte Werk in Kammerorchesterstärke und auf elektronisch verstärkten Instrumenten. Ergebnis: Ein überraschend fetziger, konturenscharfer und angriffslustiger Beethoven. [...]

Stefan Siegert

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7. June 2003, classicalsource.com

Beethoven & Eötvös Budapest Music Center

[...] Beethoven's Fifth. Anything new to say? Yes. This is a lean and muscular account that strips away accretions without it becoming a 'back to basics' account that is a slave to editing and compromising of interpretative imagination. Incongruous, maybe, to have the unconventionally constituted Ensemble Modern (certainly in terms of a full body of strings) playing it. [...] now we can talk about the performance. It's fast, not as ludicrously so as some 'authentic' renditions, and there is plenty of heft, with a compelling sense of gravitational pull to offset the explosive timpani and horns and the unimpeachable sense of direction.

For all Eötvös's sense of impulse, there's no rush or fluster, and no lip service paid to excitement for its own sake. The 'Andante con moto' has both grandeur and sentiment within its coursing veins. Indeed this is a Beethoven 5 of unstoppable force, which is never brazen, forced or throwing the baby out with the bath water. The Scherzo is played twice - whether Beethoven wanted it so is another matter - (all other repeats are in place) and the Finale steps out with an appropriate 'light out of darkness' blaze. Eötvös joins a select band of conductors who bring out the trombones at (here) 7'54"-7'56" - mandatory in terms of harmonic resolution. The sense of achievement, come the final bars, is palpably thrilling - an accelerando to triumph.

If a comparison is needed, then it's with Carlos Kleiber's famed VPO account on DG. Eötvös's leonine vitality and care for characterisation is similar, although I'm bound to say there's something more tactile about Eötvös's approach and I'd therefore place it with George Szell's Concertgebouw version, long my 'desert island' choice.

An invigorating release, then, that warrants investigation.

Colin Anderson

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11/2001, ClassicToday.com

Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 Artistic Quality 10 / Sound Quality 9

What a surprising disc this is! [...]
Eotvos and his pals in Ensemble Modern have decided to go at the Fifth as with any other piece of contemporary music, freely amplifying strings and winds to achieve an alarming level of clarity and balance between sections. [...]
Within the context of supremely high-caliber playing, Eotvos and crew treat each movement as a single musical span, revealing a perfect understanding of Beethoven's dramaturgy. Take the first movement development, for example, where the players bring an incredible passion and focus to sudden dynamic changes, and blast forward inexorably in a crushing assault on the recapitulation. Marvelous! The Andante really breathes, hugely benefiting from the long-limbed phrasing made possible by generous observance of the "con moto" qualification of its basic tempo. The grimly humorous scherzo leads to a finale of simply overwhelming energy: the fireworks just keep coming at you until the very last bar, with none of the loss of steam frequently encountered in other performances at the return of the scherzo, the beginning of the coda, or the calmer second subject.
Make no mistake: this performance is at once an astonishing achievement in its own right and a celebration of the perennial relevance of the great classics. In a time when everyone is asking the question: "Do we really need another performance of [fill in the blank]?" it's wonderful to be able to hold up this CD and say, "Yes!" [...] if you haven't heard this recording, and you love the Fifth, you're missing something very special.