Beethoven - Leonore 3 Overture [Davis-Staatskapelle Dresden] This used to be my favourite Beethoven Overture, in the early days of getting into Classical music, i remember walking from Uxbridge to Cowley and back every morning, with a Beethoven Symphony 3 cassette playing, and the filler was this Overture [by Karajan], and how i marvelled at such an incredible creation, now i feel that Coriolan or Egmont might be better, but i enjoyed re-acquainting myself with this Overture today.
Colin Davis is English, born in 1927, now 83, he made this complete cycle of Symphonies between 1991-1993, with this Overture recorded in 1993.
Initially it starts as an inauspicious Adagio, but before long its nobility begins to shine through [1:02+], in a solemnly stated theme by the woodwinds, the clarinets especially shine here, and then moves into a transition stage, where Beethoven readies for the inevitable Allegro, which receives its triumphal fanfare blast [4:22+], brass nicely blazing away,
Here's Myung Whun Chung conducting the Overture on YouTube.
