# Das Wunder Mäkelä? (Beethoven's 9th on YouTube)



## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

I was very favorably impressed by this performance of Beethoven 9 by the Oslo Philharmonic, conducted by Klaus Mäkelä, who is apparently in his early twenties. Very nice sound and video, good tempii, solid playing by the orchestra.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

A finely conceived, invigorating performance with many beautiful details. No question, he knows what's happening in this score. I'm impressed all over again by the stunningly visionary nature of the work. Makela (sorry, no umlaut on my keyboard) holds the variations of the finale together superbly and justifies its extraordinary melange of moods; as in the late quartets and sonatas, Beethoven here fuses the simple and the complex, the exalted the vulgar (not in a bad sense), through an alchemy that takes us light years from the world of Haydn and Mozart and into another dimension of experience, one that affords a glimpse of Mahler's dictum, "the symphony must contain the world." 

The conductor's web site tells us this about him: "Klaus Mäkelä has established a strong international presence through his instant musical connection with orchestras around the world. Mäkelä is Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor Designate of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and will assume the position at the beginning of the 2020/21 season. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Artist in Association with Tapiola Sinfonietta, and Artistic Director of the Turku Music Festival."

I'd say we can expect good things from him.


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

'a' umlaut can be typed by holding down the 'ALT' key and typing the number 0228.


----------



## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Have listened to the first movement so far and it's noticeable how tight he keeps the orchestra.


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

janxharris said:


> Have listened to the first movement so far and it's noticeable how tight he keeps the orchestra.


A bit too tight I feel. I'd like more spontaneity. But beats what I was doing in my early twenties.


----------



## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

Looks like a young Shostakovich. And in his art, he is possibly as talented as the young Shostakovich was in his. Glad to know such conductor exists.


----------



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

It's a nice performance, Matt. He obviously knows how to get results from an orchestra. This works well in the 1st movement, where his tight control and precision pays dividends. What lets this down, IMO, is not developing some freedom in the scherzo. He keeps such a strict rhythm (over-rehearsed?) that the movement never flows organically and sounds rather mechanical and over-controlled (listen to how Scrowaczewski, Jordan (Paris), Leinsdorf and Karajan, for example, give the rhythm a lilting quality in this movement) . When he does let the reins go in the adagio he gets some lovely sounds from his troops. The finale is rousing and we'll-conceived (the choir are very well drilled, indeed) but again he keeps it too tight at the end, for me. Not a classic 9th but I'd be a happy man to hear this in concert. Thanks for the heads up about this one. I enjoyed it on the way home from work and when I got in.


----------



## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Woodduck said:


> Beethoven here fuses the simple and the complex, the exalted the vulgar (not in a bad sense), through an alchemy that takes us light years from the world of Haydn and Mozart and into another dimension of experience, one that affords a glimpse of Mahler's dictum, "the symphony must contain the world."


This reminds me of people (Don't worry, Mr. Woodduck, I don't mean you're one of them ) who talk like "when the Haydns and Mozart try something different from Bach and Handel, something that would anticipate the Bruckner Requiem, they're just being vulgar in a bad sense or they're just being inoffensive or outdated. When Beethoven tries something different from his predecessors he's being vulgar not in a bad sense and at the same time, he's being totally innovative." 
Just saying.


----------



## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

I just listened to this at 1.2x custom speed. Best decision I've made in months, I don't think one can compose anything better than this.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

hammeredklavier said:


> This reminds me of people (Don't worry, Mr. Woodduck, I don't mean you're one of them ) who talk like "when the Haydns and Mozart try something different from Bach and Handel, something that would anticipate the Bruckner Requiem, they're just being vulgar in a bad sense or they're just being inoffensive or outdated. When Beethoven tries something different from his predecessors he's being vulgar not in a bad sense and at the same time, he's being totally innovative."
> Just saying.


Who has said such things? Isn't the Classicism of Haydn and Mozart _essentially_ different from Bach and Handel? Does anyone think that Haydn and Mozart anticipate the Bruckner Requiem? I've never known anyone to call either of them "vulgar in a bad sense"; Haydn's use of popular or folksy idioms is generally considered one of his charms, as is Mozart's in _Zauberflote._ Beethoven's 9th, though, has been accused of vulgarity in a bad sense, a judgment with which I disagree completely.


----------

