Beethoven, Complete Symphonies

A new complete recording of the symphonies of Beethoven? The very idea!

Of course, La Chambre Philharmonie and I anticipated this reaction, but we were very well aware that we would ignore it. Our project was a perfectly logical one; it seemed like a necessity to all of us. Ever since it was founded in 2004, La Chambre Philharmonie has lived with the Beethoven symphonies in the same way as a violinist or cellist lives with the Bach sonatas or suites, just as string quartets and pianists too always return to Beethoven when they begin to reflect anew on their craft, the experience they have acquired, their very nature as musicians. To speak of a litmus test for musicians might seem rather too pompous, but there is an element of that also. In any case, to record the Beethoven symphonies had quite simply become essential.

Not that we felt we had 'something new to say', still less that we had discovered some 'new truth'. The fact that they play period instruments is not in itself a source of pride to the musicians of La Chambre Philharmonie. We are all ready, starting with me, to acknowledge that an interpretation on modern instruments can get as near to the spirit of the works as another, self-styled 'historically informed' one. In fact, our complete Beethoven recording does not aspire to be an 'authentic interpretation' but an 'authentic interpretation'. We have compared the critical editions, studied all the sources, the better to free ourselves from them.

What we needed to do was place ourselves at the service of the music alone, and not of an abstract conception, of the specific qualities of period instruments. As against the notions of performance, technical efficiency, a certain convenience, the 'clean' sound characteristic of modern instruments, our gut strings offer a breadth of timbre, a craftsmanlike and vulnerable character, and 'unevennesses' which make a splendid effect in the music of Beethoven.

The challenge was to demonstrate this without being demonstrative about it, but on the contrary sticking steadfastly to the terrain of interpretation alone.
The other important thing for us was to succeed in creating a project that reflects us as we really are. A project all the more unificatory in that it was realised in the course of 'live' sessions, and very few of them, which represented a tour de force for each and every musician and a wonderful binding agent between us. It is exceptional to obtain such precision in so few concerts with gut strings, calfskin drumheads, natural horns, etc. Such precision, such effort put into reducing to the minimum the small imperfections inherent in live recordings on period instruments is of course one of the distinguishing features of La Chambre Philharmonie. Our orchestra, which aims to be completely egalitarian, is composed of musicians of a very high standard who come from the finest orchestras and are extremely demanding in their criteria for co-opting new members. But it is the collective personality that matters most, a personality based not only on the chemistry between musicians and conductor, but above all on our working method. This creates a system of mutual, shared listening, a convergent approach to the musical text, and generates a sound which we always think of as that of an enlarged quartet, a chamber group - whence our name, which is only superficially paradoxical. Our Beethoven symphonies, too, are both 'philharmonic' and 'chamber'.