Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 'Eroica'

Manchester Camerata under conductor Douglas Boyd offer the latest in their critically acclaimed Beethoven cycle, a vivid live recording of the First and Third Symphonies.

Manchester Camerata have made an indelible mark with their universally acclaimed series of recordings for Avie. With this release, their fifth for the label, they continue their Beethoven cycle with live versions of the First and Third Symphonies that capture the spirit and freshness of these remarkable, genrebusting works, as well as the excitement, atmosphere and energy of the 33-piece orchestra under their Music Director Douglas Boyd.

Manchester Camerata have become one of the finest, most innovative chamber orchestras in the UK, and Douglas Boyd has proven to be an eminent Beethovenian. Conducting the composer’s Fidelio at the 2009 Garsington Opera Festival, The Times noted “his grasp of Beethovenian idiom” and “pungent underlining of orchestral detail”, praising the musical performance as “sublime and exultant”. In addition to residencies at The Bridgewater Hall and The Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester Camerata perform extensively throughout the UK. Most recently they were heard by tens of thousands – in the Royal Albert Hall and on the airwaves – at their 2009 BBC Proms performance.

In a market crowded with Beethoven Symphonies, there is always room for a new recording as skilful and spirited as this one.

“Gutsy, powerful, vivid – this Mancunian Beethoven is something quite special” Gramophone

Taken from the first of Karajan’s four Beethoven symphony cycles, made in the splendid acoustic of London’s Kingsway Hall, these are beautifully polished readings that traverse the decades with ease.

In the latest instalment of the Decca Ansermet Legacy, Decca Eloquence introduces the Swiss conductor's recordings of Beethoven - his symphony cycle, overtures and the rare Weingartner arrangement of the Grosse Fuge. They are issued as three 2-CD sets.

Francois Hudry, the supreme commentator on the art of Ernest Ansermet writes, "the new vision he brought to the Beethoven symphonies was astonishing. Perhaps he was too early in what he did, in his respect for the text and in his weeding out of all the Romantic touches and subjectivity which held sway at the time. Without recourse to so-called 'authentic' instruments, Ansermet was trying to return to the composer's intentions, as given in the score, avoiding the imposition of any responses of his own on the audience."

In Beethoven, Ansermet heard not just a titan but a romantic, sensual man, not just a thunderer but composer of sensitivity and subtlety. Even the mighty 'Eroica' was allowed to a reveal a softer, perhaps even a more feminine aspect. Whether he was conducting Beethoven or Ravel, Ansermet had a fine ear for instrumental colour, and a talent for keeping rhythms well-sprung and flexible. At times, Ansermet's Beethoven even seems to anticipate the 'authentic' Beethoven performances that became popular in the 1990s, although Ansermet got his results without having to rely on the sometimes unpredictable behaviour of period instruments.

This CD is very rare and documents Klemperer's return to Stockholm following his last appearance in 1947. Peter Heyworth in his authoritative book on the conductor, states, "In contrast to the wild and unpredictable figure the city has seen 11 years earlier, he now impressed the orchestra with his air of quiet authority. After the final concert (Beethoven's 'Eroica') it played a salute and the orchestra joined in with a standing ovation".

Beethoven's Symphony No.3 was very much part of Klemperer's repertoire and this performance in terms of tempo is broadly similar to his later EMI version from October 1959 though both the scherzo and finale are quicker in Stockholm.

The coupling is Mozart's Symphony No.29, a favourite of Klemperer, in another rarity not issued before while the conductor was in Munich in April 1956. Medici Masters have also published Klemperer's performance of Bruckner's Symphony No.7 (MM0302) from this time.

Superb remastering from Tony Faulkner.

This set contains the first three symphonies together with the eighth by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Although there are over 12 years separating No. 8 from the first two they probably have more in common than No. 3 has with its predecessors. The first two and No. 8 use the same size of orchestra as does Haydn in his last group of symphonies and Beethoven even uses the word menuetto for the third movement of No. 8. The first symphony shows his debt to Haydn and Mozart, especially the former when he starts both first and last movement with a slow introduction. During the completion of the second he had to face the awful realisation that he was going deaf so it is the third, arguably his most remarkable work, called “Eroica”, which took the form on to a much higher level of achievement. Some writers have given prominence to the figure of Napoleon – indeed Beethoven had originally intended to dedicate the work to him – but the use of a tune representing the hero Prometheus, from his ballet Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (The Creatures of Prometheus), on which he wrote variations for the last movement may well show that it was indeed Beethoven who, Prometheus like, is the hero in his stand against the wrath of the unjust gods. Wolfgang Sawallisch shows his enormous wealth of experience conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Beethoven’s symphony No. 3 was first performed at the Palais Lobkowitz in Vienna with an ensemble of 28 musicians. This recording from NEOS Classics, conducted by Daniel Grossmann, recreates that first performance.

Ensemble 28 reintroduce us, very successfully, to the practice of performing orchestral works with a chamber music ensemble.