Playing this disc makes me realize more than ever, that Beethoven truly reigns supreme among Composers, Chopin spoke Polish and French, Schubert and Bach spoke German, Ravel and Debussy spoke French, but Beethoven speaks a universal language, i couldn't help thinking how Beethoven transcends even music in his efforts to express his ideas, he's so revolutionary, at once you know you're in the presence of a master when you hear Beethoven, listening to his Symphonies are one major thing, but his Overtures are 'mini Symphonies' in a sense, they are teeming with life, the same as a drop of pond water almost has it's own world within it, yes i was astounded today, if ever i think that Schubert, Chopin, Brahms etc, are biting at the heels of Beethoven, then a disc like this is a reality check that they're not in the same league.
Eugen Jochum is German, 1902-1987, he recorded this disc at the end of his life in 1985, this disc comes from the RCA Classical Navigator series, some are excellent, and others are visually average, this one's ok, they show a map and an event that happened relating to the music.
All of these Overtures were so good, the genius of Beethoven truly shines through, the best two were Egmont and Coriolan, and it's this Coriolan Overture that i found so revolutionary, and it really got me going, .
Here's Christian Thielemann conducting the Coriolan Overture on YouTube.
Here's Christian Thielemann conducting the Coriolan Overture on YouTube.
