Beethoven - Symphonies Nos 6 and 2 (LSO Live, Haitink)

FRIENDS of the Beethoven symphonies tend to choose up sides: odd numbers here, even numbers over there. There does seem to be a difference in mood and character between the Second, Fourth, Sixth and Eighth Symphonies as opposed to the Third, Fifth, Seventh and Ninth, but it would probably take a team of musicologists and forensic psychiatrists to sort it all out.

The ''Pastoral'' (No. 6) and the D major (No. 2) occupy the sunny side of the street, and LSO Live, the do-it-yourself recording arm of the London Symphony Orchestra, offers them in performances from November at the Barbican Center in London, conducted by Bernard Haitink. If the Third Symphony waxes heroic, the Fifth rails at fate, and the Ninth promotes corporate brotherhood, the Second is an exercise in graceful good will, and the Sixth remains one of music's great celebrations of life.

Mr. Haitink has some very articulate wind players here. His pointed accents don't let us forget the dance elements that lie behind the ''Pastoral''; the F major finale soars ecstatically. Most admirable, in the Sixth's first movement, is how strongly the lower strings are made to sound: no small accomplishment for homogeneity-minded, modern-instrument orchestras, but essential if we are to understand this music, which is as much about sections in opposing rhythms as it is about flowers, weather and birds in the trees.

The Second Symphony is done with a light, delicate touch. The recorded sound in both pieces is good enough for me, although I admit to more interest in music than in electrical engineering.
- Bernard Holland, NY Times