Beethoven Symphony No. 3 in Eb Major Op. 55
Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3 Op. 72b


Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra - 1944
$9

When I heard this performance of the 3rd Symphony for the first time as a young man in a Turnabout LP, I began to understand, for the first time, the role of the last movement, and thus the meaning of the symphony as a whole. All other performances, including other Furtwängler ones, pale next to this one. Fortunately, this recording has often had good sound, although there have been so many releases that some, inevitably, are not of good quality. Still, it required removal of the "boxy" sound, as well as controlling some standing waves that often crept into Musikverein performances of this time.

The Leonore Ov. No. 3 is also a great performance, although perhaps not quite as great as the Eroica. Surprisingly, I found that the original recordings had nearly a dozen changes in recording volume made, I suppose, to avoid saturation. Restoring the correct volume levels was like doing a crossword puzzle. However, I am now satisfied that the volumes are where they should be. It is amazing that previous releases have not corrected this recording mistake.







We encourage you to also browse through the rest of our collection, including recordings from the creator of this website and remasters Eduardo Chibás, the renowned pianist Artur Schnabel and other historical directors