This is a throwback to an older style of Beethoven playing, the style that the champions of authentic performance such as Roger Norrington have taught us to be wary of. The sound is an unashamedly old-fashioned one; it’s massive, full, and beautifully blended, even when the music seems to call for strong contrasts. The tempi are slow, even stately, and the joins between sections are nicely dovetailed... They may not have the thrilling energy that Norrington brings to bear in his recordings, but they have a wonderfully spacious quality, and the slowish tempi allow the inner parts to sound with unusual clarity.
