BEETHOVEN/COOPER: SYMPHONY NO. 10. Wyn Morris conducting...

BEETHOVEN/COOPER: SYMPHONY NO. 10. Wyn Morris conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. MCA Classics MCAD-6269 (compact disc). Although its place in the repertory is that of a novelty, Beethoven’s “Tenth” Symphony is not the travesty that some have claimed--it is identifiably Beethoven, though hasty, Beethoven to be sure. What it is not, paradoxically, is Beethoven’s Tenth Symphony. Rather, it is the first movement only of a work that might have been, as completed from the composer’s sketches by musicologist Barry Cooper. Probably few buyers will be deceived, but MCA’s cover reveals none of this. The performance is reasonably bold and blunt, and an interesting lecture on the work by Cooper fills most of the time on this short disc.