The
National Symphony Orchestra
was never one of the famous U.S. symphonic ensembles, but it has been getting headlines and listeners thanks to the energy of music director
Gianandrea Noseda
. The
Beethoven
symphony performances here, collected over 18 months, drew good crowds at the Kennedy Center in Washington, and many people will be glad to see them in a box set adorned with videos of some of the performances. There is nothing world-beating about
Noseda
's interpretations, but by and large, they are satisfying, with an ebullience that is also reflected in the 1960s-style graphics.
manages both to differentiate the works and to stamp a personal style on them and really, it is hard to ask for anything more. His tempos are quick throughout, with a feeling of great energy running through the whole. Sometimes, it catches fire; the last two movements of the
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
, must have been breathtaking to hear in person, and the horns in the first movement of that symphony step up to the demands
places on them. The finale of the
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 ("Eroica")
, is also quite fast and seems to fit with the muscular earlier movements in a way that nobody else has quite gotten. There are times when
seems a step ahead of the orchestra, as in the first movement of the
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
, and times when the slow movements seem inadvisably brisk; that of the
Seventh
does not feel funereal. However, these junctures may involve matters of taste, and it is worth stressing that
has caught a thread and carried it through, concluding with an imposing
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 ("Choral")
; sample the Scherzo especially. The live sound is adequate but does not rise to the level some European in-house labels have achieved; the microphones seem a bit distant from the musicians. On the whole, the set should be cause for celebration in American orchestral circles. ~ James Manheim