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"Sinfonia pastorella - anyone who has an idea of life in the country can divine for himself the composer's intentions without a lot of titles."
Beethoven, in one of his sketch books
"Mehr Ausdruck der Empfindung als Mahlerei (more an expression of feeling than a painting)."
Beethoven, ditto
" This is no question of gaily dressed shepherds...it is a matter of nature in her simple truth."
Hector Berlioz
" This astonishing landscape seems to have been composed by Poussin and dranw by Michelangelo."
Hector Berlioz
The Pastoral was first performed at the Theater an der Wien at one of the mammoth concerts that the 18th and 19th century seemed to specialise in. The programme included, inter alia the first performance of the Pastoral, which opened the concert, the first performance of the Fifth, which opened the second half, and the first performance of the Fourth Piano Concerto!
Although the initial critics considered the symphony too long, it soon achieved a populairty that led to some rather bizarre events, such as the "dramatised performance" at the Haymarket in London in 1829, complete with ballet; or the version given at the Malkasten in Düsseldorf in 1869, with "living pictures to the music."
Of course the 19th century didn't have Walt Disney to cope with. Some of us still have difficulty erasing those saccharin images from Fantasia from our minds!
One version which somehow eluded me until recently is the 1972 VPO/Böhm (DG). There is a definite golden glow to this account, particularly in the first two movements, taken quite slowly. The storm is surprisingly violent considering the nature of the rest of the performance and it is only the final Shepherds' Hymn which I find slightly unsatisfying. Still the recording is excellent, and the VPO are on top form. For many this will be a first choice.
Perhaps my very favourite stereo recording is Bruno Walter's 1959 Columbia Symphony version. This symphony is exactly suited to the glowing mellowness of Walter's last recordings and is a sheer delight from beginning to end. I have yet to hear the remastering for Sony's Bruno Walter Edition, but if the Mahler Ninth is anything to go by, it will be well worth it.
Klemperer's stereo version also has rather slow tempi, particular in the Shepherds' Merrymaking where the Shepherds seem a little lethargic, but there is no denying the affection in Klemperer's interpretation. It was during this movement that Klemperer's producer took him to task over his tempo. "You'll get used to it!" came the typical reply.
Scherchen's Pastoral (coupled with his extraordinary Eigth) is astonishing. Again he takes the first movement at a cracking tempo - as indeed did Willem Mengelberg in 1940 - faster than even Harnoncourt. What is most remarkable is the fact that Scherchen makes it work, this Pastoral somehow never seems rushed. How does he do it? I'm still trying to work it out. Others find this version a little overpowering, but there is an exultant joyfulness in his last movement which I hear in few, if any, others. This disc is disgracefully cheap too.
My favourite period version has long been Norrington's and I have yet to change my mind. The rather fast tempi, particularly in the first movement, throw a whole new light on the internal balances of the work (although others have used similar tempi in the past), and the extremely realistically recorded timpani (played with hard-headed sticks, of course) had my dog on his feet and barking at the supposed thunder. Unfortunately he is no longer with us, so the "Rolf Test" for assessing recordings of the Pastoral will have to be retired. Undefeated.
Quite my favourite version of this symphony is the 1952 VPO/Furtwängler recording, but its slow tempi, particularly in the first two movements, are not to all tastes. There are also several live recordings around by Furtwängler, but none of them, with the possible exception of the May 1954 BPO performance (his last of the symphony) surpass this studio effort.
Erich Kleiber's version would be my other historic recommendation, if you can find it.
Toscanini's 1937 BBC SO recording has, I believe, been officialy reissued at last, together with the First, and Fourth he made at the same time (although not the Seventh, which has only ever appeared, briefly, on LP). Althopugh this is preferable (by far) to his RCA NBC SO Pastoral I still don't really feel he had much empathy with any of the work except the storm.
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