Beethoven: Egmont Overture, Op. 84

During the 1950s, 60s and 70s, Decca recorded a number of albums with some of its key conductors of Overtures. Many of these were singled out by the press for their terrific sound quality (the fabled ‘Decca Sound’) and for their often adventurous programming. Some of them also included entr’actes and intermezzi. Prized as collectors’ items, many of the original LPs exchange hands at high prices. And most of these reissues, in Decca Eloquence’s ‘Romantic Overtures’ series appear in CD, in part or whole, for the first time.

Romantic Overtures – Volume 3 features a conductor who recorded for Decca over a span of 36 years, from the 78 / early LP era (1949) to 1985: Karl Münchinger. Best known for his recordings from the Baroque and Classical eras, made mostly with ‘his’ Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, he also recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic and made just one recording – of Schumann’s Manfred and Gluck’s Alceste Overtures – with L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (in 1954). Appearing on CD for the first time, they round off a 2CD set that includes, also for the first time on CD, Münchinger’s recording of Beethoven Overtures, as well as a remarkable recording ‘Romantic Overtures’ of music by Weber, Schumann, Schubert, Cherubini and Mendelssohn. Also included is Schubert’s Zauberharfe overture which appeared on Münchinger’s famous disc of the incidental music for Rosamunde.

During the 1950s, 60s and 70s, Decca recorded a number of albums with some of its key conductors of Overtures. Many of these were singled out by the press for their terrific sound quality (the fabled ‘Decca Sound’) and for their often adventurous programming. Some of them also included entr’actes and intermezzi. Prized as collectors’ items, many of the original LPs exchange hands at high prices. And most of these reissues, in Decca Eloquence’s ‘Romantic Overtures’ series appear in CD, in part or whole, for the first time.

Romantic Overtures – Volume 2 showcases the artistry of Piero Gamba, who conducted showpieces for Decca and partnered, among others, Ruggiero Ricci as well as Julius Katchen in his magnificent cycle of the Beethoven Concertos. This 2CD set includes his very first recording for Decca, of Rossini Overtures (1955). Five years later recorded another LP of Rossini Overtures, the only common item being William Tell (the stereo recording is truly thrilling, the record as a whole one of Decca’s best kept secrets!). Both recordings are included here (and both recordings of William Tell). The Egmont Overture was originally coupled with Katchen’s recording of Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto; and also included is all of the LP entitled ‘Adventures in Sound’ which included overtures and intermezzi by Verdi, Mascagni, Mancinelli, Martucci and Ponchielli. A real rarity is Stanley Black’s Overture to a Costume Comedy, recorded at the 1957 ‘Adventures in Sound’ sessions, but only included on a 45rpm EP in mono. This is its first release on CD and in stereo.

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.

Over the years, Eloquence (Australia) has pioneered on CD the Decca discography of Zubin Mehta and the latest in the series is his beautifully-graded account of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony together with passionate performances of the Leonore Overture No. 3 and the Egmont Overture.

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."

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, so familiar today that one risks taking it for granted, sounds almost as if it were composed in one sitting. The composer is supposed to have described the famous four notes that open the symphony as 'fate knocking at the door'. Even though they have been endlessly appropriated and parodied by popular culture, their power and fascination remain undiminished after more than two centuries. Even twenty years after its premiere, when the symphony was performed in Paris, French composer Jean-Francois Le Sueur claimed to be so disoriented that he could not find his head, when he tried to put on his hat!

Ansermet's 'Pastoral' seems to depict the feelings of a sympathetic visitor to the country, not the experiences of an actual country-dweller. Warm, hazy textures and an unerring sense of line are its hallmarks and in the finale he lets the melody soar, freely and lightly, into the evening sky. His Seventh is less of an orgiastic romp than in other hands and Ansermet conducts it as if it were an extension of the 'Pastoral'. The orchestral sonorities are given mass, but inner voices are not obscured. Ansermet's reading of the Eighth is as monumental as that of the "bigger" trio of symphonies preceding it; in no way is it to be treated as a "lesser" work than its bedfellows.