Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Eugene Ormandy :: Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture; Beethoven: Wellington's Victory

It's like sun and shadows

Jose L. Lobato | Mexico City | 07/08/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"OK. I've heard better versions of the 1812 overture. This is slightly different because it has choruses where other versions doesn't have them. (Just for making you know, the best 1812 is by the Chicago orchestra, conducted by Sir Georg Solti. The label is Decca). But, the Wellington's Victory really kicks butt! You really feel in the battlefield, surrounded by guns, cavalry and infantry in the infamous battle were Napoleon was utterly defeated. Altough Beethoven despised this work, is one of his best orchestral compositions. If you like warlike music, this is for you."

Napoleonic-inspired music

Scott R. Lucado | Fort Worth, TX USA | 01/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The 1812 is a good rendition, especially with the hymns being sung, but what really makes this CD is Wellington's Victory.



I originally owned this on vinyl (it was the first album I ever bought, at age 12), and I was disappointed that all 180+ synthesized cannon shots were omitted from the CD, yet the ratchets (to simulate musket fire) were retained. I'd give this CD five stars if the cannon fire were still included. It's got to be the most stirring rendition of Wellington's Victory ever recorded.



The first half, which re-creates the battle of Vittoria, Spain, in 1813 (at which Napoleon was not present), introduces both armies with trumpets on left & right. From there, the sides clash, at an ever-increasing tempo and intensity, until the final French assault is broken, and the battle winds down.



The listener can easily envision the armies colliding, smoke covering the field, and the casualties and exhausted veterans breaking off.



The second half of Wellington's Victory is the Victory Symphony, and that comes through brilliantly. It's noisy, jubilant, about as subtle as a runaway train, but nothing has ever sounded more outright victorious.



Come to think of it...I'll go listen to it again, right now."

THE BEST 1812

ernest a. dupont | Pembroke, ON Canada | 01/26/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What is the best version of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture? I have not heard all of them, but this one, I would venture to say is the best if not one of the best. The playing of the New Philharmonia Orchestra is keen, with a sense of climax, and conductor Igor Buketoff leaves no note by the wayside. The magic is all there... and the original choral parts are included. As for Ormandy and the Wellington's Victory, it is also top rate. The playing is gorgeous, the sound very clean. Top marks."