Beethoven: Gods, Heroes and Men

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The two orchestral works receive very distinctive performances from Kent Nagano and his Montreal forces. He adopts some period practices, but of course with an orchestra of modern instruments... — BBC Music Magazine, August 2011, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 2nd May 2011
Catalogue No: 88697857372
Label: Sony
Length: 73 minutes

Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus Overture, Op. 43

Work length25:59

$6.50

$8.50

Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Kent Nagano

Act I, Overture

Track length4:39

$1.30

$1.70

Act I, Introduction. Allegro non troppo

Track length1:59

$1.30

$1.70

Act II, No. 5 Adagio

Track length6:43

$1.30

$1.70

Act II, No. 8 Allegro con brio

Track length6:26

$1.30

$1.70

Act II, No. 16 Finale. Allegretto

Track length6:12

$1.30

$1.70

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

Work length47:51

Album only

Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Kent Nagano

I. Allegro con brio

Track length16:49

Album only

II. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai

Track length13:57

Album only

III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace

Track length5:46

$1.30

$1.70

IV. Finale. Allegro molto

Track length11:19

Album only

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There are countless recordings of Beethoven's Third Symphony ‘Eroica’, which he was originally going to dedicate to the revered Napoleon Bonaparte before the latter turned into a tyrant. What sets this new album apart from all the other recordings is the attractive programme: the American-Japanese conductor Kent Nagano combines the famous ‘Eroica’ with Beethoven's lesser-known ballet music ‘The Creatures of Prometheus’. Nagano is ably supported here by the renowned Montreal Symphony Orchestra, whose music director he has been since 2006.

In the ballet score – written shortly before the Third Symphony – we find the first clear signs of the composer's admiration for Napoleon, the ‘Prometheus of his era’. The finale, for example, is based on a contredanse in E flat, taken from a popular French operetta of the time, and which Beethoven also used in the last movement of the ‘Eroica’.

Reviews

August 2011

The two orchestral works receive very distinctive performances from Kent Nagano and his Montreal forces. He adopts some period practices, but of course with an orchestra of modern instruments and proportions...All told this is a controversial but stimulating disc.

September 2011

Orchestra and conductor are at their best in the Prometheus ballet music extracts. Nagano's use of the full orchestra might seem a touch weighty for such music, particularly when heard in so sombre an acoustic. But the direction is exacting, the playing determined and spruce.

Beethoven: Gods, Heroes and Men

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