Splendid playing but uninspired Beethoven performances

By Zoltán Szabó, 25 January 2016

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“Beethoven’s heart-warming melodies chugged ahead with unrelenting metrical precision”

Reviewed at City Recital Hall, Sydney on 23 January 2016

Beethoven, Symphony no. 6 in F major "Pastoral", Op.68

Beethoven, Symphony no. 5 in C minor, Op.67

Anima Eterna Brugge

Jos van Immerseel, Conductor

Antonini and Anima Eterna deliver Beethoven back to the future

Laurence Vittes, 21st March

The performance recalled Jos van Immerseel's remark that Beethoven’s music sounds less modern on the instruments of our time than it does on those of the early 19th century.

*****

Russian troika bogged down in the quest for authenticity in Bruges

Marc Haegeman, 29th November

In an all-Russian programme, Jos van Immerseel and Anima Eterna Brugge show the nuts and bolts, but forget the music.

**111

Disciplined expressiveness: Anima Eterna in Sydney

David Larkin, 22nd January

The Belgian period-instrument ensemble Anima Eterna Brugge deliver controlled but expressive performances of Beethoven's Symphonies 8 and 7 as part of a complete cycle in Sydney

****1

Freedom, Equality, Inimitability

Jens Klier, 1st October

Jos van Immerseel and Anima Eterna present a rich programme full of colour and transparency.

****1

Czech masters as you've never heard them

David Karlin, 13th March

In the acoustic wizardry that is Concertgebouw Brugge, Jos van Immerseel and Anima Eterna deliver a feast for the intellect, if not for the senses, in their exploration of the great Czech composers.

***11

Aus historischem Hain: Smetanas Má vlast mit Anima Eterna Brugge

Jens Klier, 13th September

Mit spürbarem Herantasten zur vollen Farbigkeit entwarf das Orchester ein aufregendes, texturiertes Bildnis Smetanas naturalistischen und helden-melancholischen, legendären Vaterland-Zyklus.

****1

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Zoltán Szabó

Zoltán Szabó is a cellist and musicologist. Having migrated from his native Hungary to Australia in 1985, he worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Sydney until 1991, when he became Principal Cello with Opera Australia. In 2017, he was awarded with a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD). Currently, he is teaching music history and musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Splendid playing but uninspired performances: Anima Eterna's Beethoven at the Sydney Festival