Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 'Eroica' / Overtures: 'Leonore' Nos. 1 & 2 [Limited Edition, Original recording remastered]

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Otto Klemperer (Conductor), Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra
• Conductor: Otto Klemperer
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (April 9, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition, Original recording remastered
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000063UNF
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,025 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the truly great Eroicas, October 9, 2002

By 

Robert J. Higgs (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 'Eroica' / Overtures: 'Leonore' Nos. 1 & 2 (Audio CD)

This mono performance, recorded in 1955, is not the same one which was released in the Klemperer legacy series (that was a stereo performance, recorded in 1959), but it is far better as an interpretation. The first movement is magnificent and it sounds as though it was recorded in a complete take. The funeral march is a little too fast, and the principal oboe does not sound sad at all, but apart from that I am sure everything is as Beethoven would have wanted it. This is a very well known recording and it deserves special attention. It is a pity that Klemperer slowed down by the time the stereo performance was made, for he ruins the first movement, and therefore the whole symphony, by his plodding tempo. Yet amazingly the stereo recording gets all the acclaim. Avoid it and buy this mono performance.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunner, April 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 'Eroica' / Overtures: 'Leonore' Nos. 1 & 2 (Audio CD)

This Eroica is a stunner. It hardly sounds like a mono recording, so good is the recording. It is a much better interpretation than the stereo which is slower. Here Klemperer is in his element. Tempi are well-judged and flows smoothly. You are magnetized from first to last and the performance never sags. Great recording indeed. This Eroica is on Grammophone's top 100 Classical List and I can say it deserves its reputation. The reviewer below must be extremely sensitive to sonics. I listen to a lot of both mono and stereo recordings because a lot of the mono are classics (unfortunately). I can say that this mono sound is the best mono you can possibly get. In fact, if you are listening on speakers (NOT WALKMAN HEADPHONES), you probably can't tell that it's mono - just a hint. If you listen on headphones it's more obvious but the mono is still far better than normal mono.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better than the stereo recording on Legacy Series, January 4, 2005

By 

HZBogani (Venezuela) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 'Eroica' / Overtures: 'Leonore' Nos. 1 & 2 (Audio CD)

Klemperer sober, unsentimental funeral march is the hallmark for me here. In the booklet you can read that even Karajan, whose 1962 Eroica is one of the best in the catalog was expecting some day to conduct the funeral march the way Klemperer does. The whole account is electrifing, very dramatic, powerful and the balance of the orchestra perfect, every line is well articulated. One of the best ever!!!.