Beethoven - Egmont Overture [Davis-Staatskapelle Dresden] It's nice to have a couple of Overtures on this 6 disc box set of the complete Symphonies by Beethoven, and they're very good ones, and today i was so impressed with the Egmont Overture, i played this box set a few days ago with the Third Symphony [28th Dec 2010], Beethoven was the master of the Overture along with Rossini, and it's a shame he didn't write even more than he did, Beethoven's overtures have that profound universal-ness about them.
Colin Davis is English and now 73, i wrote about him a few days ago [see above], the Staatskapelle Dresden have been in existence for over 400 years, and Colin Davis remains a Conductor Laureate.
The Overture is composed in the key of F Minor, it has dark and angry overtones throughout, it's story is of heroism in the face of death, wow there's lots to enjoy in this piece, there's lots of building up and up towards a forte, and then a marvelous explosion of sound [2:46-3:05+ & 5:17-5:35+], roughly in the middle the woodwinds all take turns playing a little bit of a tune [4:12-4:43] over chugging strings, punctuated by brass outbursts, it's amazing how inventive Beethoven can be, and yet it's all simple devices really, about a minute later, an abrupt change of direction, and Beethoven creates a lovely knot of tension [5:51+], which he soon has a sublime release for [6:03+], he creates his own problems, which he then goes on to solve, the ending is superb, with loud brass fanfares [8:35+], and a nice sting in the tail, with five shrill piccolo blasts as a closer [8:52-9:05], Beethoven surely knows how to get the best out of his instruments, a piece full of military intrigue.
Here's Claudio Abbado conducting the Egmont Overture on YouTube.
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