Amazing pieces of classical music - 38
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" in E-flat major, Op. 55 : Act II, the funeral march (Marica funebre) performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan in late 1962. Karajan became the principal conductor of this orchestra in 1955 after Wilhelm Furtwängler's death, a position he held until his own death in 1989. While this was eventually his official principal role, his first performances with the orchestra were, however, as a guest conductor before World War Two like Ferenc Fricsay was thereafter. I'm now not going into the politics from then nor even from Beethoven's time, but let me say that the composer buried a great man (Napoleon Bonaparte) perfectly well within the actual composition for the entire symphony itself.
Karajan recorded the Eroica Symphony at least four times as part of complete symphony cycles, and potentially more in live and unissued performances. He recorded the complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies once with the Philharmonia Orchestra and three times with the Berlin Philharmonic. This performance is from his first one (recorded in 1961 and 1962) with the Berliner. Karajan's best record for the Eroica is generally considered to be this one, and it was then also this one that I bought as a teenager many decades ago. This version is praised for its power, refinement, and superior sound quality, making it a top choice among critics and listeners.
According to Dave Hurwitz and others, the playing of the second movement sounds "strangely undifferentiated" under the conductor's oh-so-streamlined approach, but then the Berlin strings never sounded so powerfully later, and this makes the funeral march a truly stunning piece of string music. This performance, released in 1963, easily surpasses all later versions of the Berliner under Karajan in energy and life. The rises in the playing of this funeral march as a piece of music are unparalleled. The fact that the other two movements of the Eroica (the first and the third) form a single unit almost blurs the entire symphony itself with one magnificent, almost grandiose final surge at the end
[media=https://youtu.be/-fvMC2qAdzs]
Karajan recorded the Eroica Symphony at least four times as part of complete symphony cycles, and potentially more in live and unissued performances. He recorded the complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies once with the Philharmonia Orchestra and three times with the Berlin Philharmonic. This performance is from his first one (recorded in 1961 and 1962) with the Berliner. Karajan's best record for the Eroica is generally considered to be this one, and it was then also this one that I bought as a teenager many decades ago. This version is praised for its power, refinement, and superior sound quality, making it a top choice among critics and listeners.
According to Dave Hurwitz and others, the playing of the second movement sounds "strangely undifferentiated" under the conductor's oh-so-streamlined approach, but then the Berlin strings never sounded so powerfully later, and this makes the funeral march a truly stunning piece of string music. This performance, released in 1963, easily surpasses all later versions of the Berliner under Karajan in energy and life. The rises in the playing of this funeral march as a piece of music are unparalleled. The fact that the other two movements of the Eroica (the first and the third) form a single unit almost blurs the entire symphony itself with one magnificent, almost grandiose final surge at the end
[media=https://youtu.be/-fvMC2qAdzs]
