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

Before he was killed in a freak accident, aged only 44, Ataúflo Argenta (1913–1958) was the foremost Spanish conductor of his generation and on the verge of a major international career. After studying in Germany, he founded the Madrid Chamber Orchestra in 1946 and in 1947 was appointed chief conductor of the Orquesta Nacional de España which quickly grew into a major ensemble. Argenta also established himself in Paris with the Paris Conservatoire and French National Radio orchestras and made a considerable number of recordings in London for Decca. He was closely associated with Ernest Ansermet and the Suisse Romande Orchestra, the former seeing him as a potential successor.

Argenta was not associated with Beethoven, yet this live ICA recording of the ‘Eroica’ with the Orquesta Nacional shows him as an exciting interpreter. This is the first time this recording has been published outside Spain, and it benefits from excellent remastering. Similarly, Smetana’s Bartered Bride Overture with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande recorded live is also issued for the first time outside Spain. Argenta never recorded either of these works commercially in the studio.

The fill-ups consisting of zarzuela orchestral preludes by Chapí and Giménez have never been issued on CD before and reveal Argenta’s unique affinity with these Spanish composers. The Beethoven and Smetana are important additions to Argenta’s discography.

Digitally remastered in 2012, these great works are captured beautifully from the 1961 live performances with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch. A double CD, this release captures early 1960s performances of artists at the top of their game.

Recorded live in Vienna in 1961

Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Orchestra bring their unique energy to one of the summits of the orchestral repertoire - Beethoven’s mighty Symphony No.3, the “Eroica”.

Beethoven’s third symphony is not only one of his most personal works – powerful in both grandeur and pathos – but also the source of some of classical music’s most instantly recognizable melodies.

The album also includes two of Beethoven’s best-loved overtures, Egmont, inspired by Goethe’s play, and the ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus.

No longer a ‘youth orchestra’, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela is a world-class ensemble in its own right, touring the world’s great concert halls as ambassadors for their country’s unique system of musical education, ‘El Sistema’.

The combination of powerful, accessible repertoire, Dudamel’s irrepressible charisma and the remarkable story of the Simón Bolívar Orchestra make this recording not only desirable for Dudamel fans and those of Beethoven’s music, but a must for anyone wishing to discover the power of classical music at its very best.

Feted like a rockstar in his homeland, Gustavo Dudamel was recently awarded a Grammy for Best Orchestral Recording of 2011. His epic cycle of Mahler symphonies in Los Angeles and Caracas made him front page news in The New York Times and his record-setting Mahler 8 was shown live in hundreds of cinemas around the world. Gustavo made a stellar debut in the Wiener Philharmoniker’s prestigious subscription concerts in December and takes the Berliner Philharmoniker on tour this Spring.

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 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.