Bohm's Earlier "Eroica"
Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 08/31/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Karl Bohm recorded one of the great Beethoven Symphony Cycles of all-time in the early 1970s with the Vienna Philharmonic, available as three different two-fer titles in DG's "Double 2CD" series. However, the conductor also made earlier accounts of some of the Symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic. The 5th and 7th have recently been reissued in the "Musik...Sprache der Welt" series (see my review), and this DG "Originals" import title featuring the 3rd was released in 2001. It took me a while to discover that this CD even existed, but now that I own it, this 1961 stereo "Eroica" has quickly vaulted to the top of my favorites list, along with storied renditions by Bernstein, Giulini, Karajan and Klemperer. Mind you the later Vienna performance is amazing, but there is something magical in the pacing and balance of this interpretation that captured me. The inclusion of a 1958 Coriolan Overture is just icing on the cake. When listening to this CD you will know you are in the presence of one of history's greatest Beethoven interpreters."