EROICA- which is the "best" CD recording

[aqua]

Can any Beethoven lover in the world advise me on the "best" Compact Disk recording available, for the EROICA symphony?

I know that "best" is subjective and depends on listner preferences.

Personally- I like Toscaninni conducting
Beethoven. The problem is that the sound quality on Toscannini CDs' is really terrible.

Is there a white hot rendition of the EROICA (similar to Toscaninni's) available with
good sound quality? Please let me know.

[Rod]

Originally posted by aqua:
Can any Beethoven lover in the world advise me on the "best" Compact Disk recording available, for the EROICA symphony?

Personally, I haven't heard a single recording that I could recommend wholeheartedly. I only hope I live long enough to hear something I COULD really recommend!

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Peter]

Originally posted by aqua:
Can any Beethoven lover in the world advise me on the "best" Compact Disk recording available, for the EROICA symphony?

Try Günter Wand/North German Radio Symphony Orchestra
RCA Red Seal 60755-2-RC

I don't think you're going to get Toscanini with anyone other than Toscanini, but I think this performance of the Eroica is very fine.

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'Man know thyself'

[Chris]

Originally posted by Rod:
Personally, I haven't heard a single recording that I could recommend wholeheartedly.

I am in a state of shock But you must be slipping - you missed a prime opportunity to pimp period instruments!

[Rod]

Originally posted by Chris:
I am in a state of shock But you must be slipping - you missed a prime opportunity to pimp period instruments!

Just having the right instruments isn't enough, you need to know what to do with them! Or you get a good interpretation but the recording quality is poor. Of my recordings I would say the period interpretation which comes nearest to my vision of the piece is Norrington's, but the accoustic in this recording is rather dry. Gardiner lack's the right sence of momentum in the last 3 movments. The Hanover band has good sound but the first movment could be more compressed (a typical problem with this work), though it is still dynamic were it's really needed - this is the version I play. But no wholehearted money back guarantees from me with this piece.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Kevin]

I don't think one recording can say all that can be communicated in the Eroica, which is a testament to the greatness of this music. There are many great recordings of this work, but no one recording can capture all the dimensions. So prepare to become a collector.
Bernstein said that the study of the Eroica is a lifetime undertaking. Not the study of Beethoven's symphonies, or all his works, but just the Eroica itself.
In an earlier post from long ago, I mentioned a article on the Eroica by H. L. Mencken. In 1922 he wrote, "The older I grow, the more I am convinced that the most portentious phenomenon in the whole history of music was the first public performance of the Eroica on April 7, 1805.
He goes on to say, "...the feelings that Beethoven put into his music were the feelings of a god...He is a great tragic poet, and like all great tragic poets, he is obsessed by a sense of the inscrutable meaninglessness of life. From the Eroica onward he seldom departs from that theme."
Whether one agrees or not with his last statement of interpretation, he does a good job of pointing out the profundity of this symphony.
I strongly recommend you give a listen to the recently rereleased Decca Legends CD of Erich Kleiber conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Its mono but doesn't sound like it due to a fabulous remastering. Good sound for 1950. Keep an open mind and listen to several versions.

[Rod]

Originally posted by Kevin:
He goes on to say, "...the feelings that Beethoven put into his music were the feelings of a god...He is a great tragic poet, and like all great tragic poets, he is obsessed by a sense of the inscrutable meaninglessness of life. From the Eroica onward he seldom departs from that theme."
Whether one agrees or not with his last statement of interpretation...

Agree with it??!! From a Beethovenian perspective, I would say the statement is complete nonsence! No composer lived through his music as much as Beethoven, so if life is meaningless, so must be his music. To say the works following this piece are also typically conserned with the meaningless of life can be disproved simply by listening to any selection at random! I suggest such remarks are typical romantic drivel not worthy of comment, but alas may be all to influential.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Kevin]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Rod:
[B] Agree with it??!! From a Beethovenian perspective, I would say the statement is complete nonsence! No composer lived through his music as much as Beethoven, so if life is meaningless, so must be his music. To say the works following this piece are also typically conserned with the meaningless of life can be disproved simply by listening to any selection at random! I suggest such remarks are typical romantic drivel not worthy of comment, but alas may be all to influential.

Provocative isn't he...much like yourself?
It is obvious that Mencken in this philisophical assertion is projecting his own angst onto Beethoven's intentions and music. I think that Beethoven demonstrates in his life and music a stamina and indomitable spirit that I wish I had. He seems to always be victorious in his music and I would say, despite his many difficulties, in his life as well. He never gives up or gives in no matter what is thrown at him.

[Rod]

Originally posted by Kevin:
[BProvocative isn't he...much like yourself?
B]

I don't think he was being provocative, I think he was letting his personal fantasies get in the way of the facts. Regarding myself, I would say that typically my own 'provocative' nature is directly proportional to the knowledge level of whoever is reading my remarks. To those who are well read and without preconceptions regarding all things Beethoven I am not at all provocative, however to those who know little and/or try to ascribe their own subjective point of view as that of Beethoven's (as is the case with the quote in question) I could be seen as extremely provocative.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin