Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Riccardo Muti, Philadelphia Orchestra :: Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Overture to Die Weihe des Hauses

Lyrical, Passionate, Beethoven

HB | Fort Mill, SC | 02/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Muti takes a much different approach to the Eroica than most conductors do. Instead of adopting a fiery approach in the Tocanini tradition, he brings out the sheer beauty of the music. This is a big gamble on a conductor's part. If the music does not move, it will just sit there like an oversized parked limouzine. But the Muti performance works in my opinion. True the opening is little on the reserved side but the performance grows and by the end of the first movement, the intensity is truly there. The slow movement is even better with the some really beautiful phrasing. The playing of the Philadelphia is exceptional, some of the best playing on any Beethoven CD you will ever hear. The Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics rarely ever play with this much power and finesse. At less than 7 bucks, a real bargain.Harold"

Whimpy Performance of a Powerful Composition.

Santa Fe Listener | 05/06/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Even if you're willing to overlook the fact that one of the horn solo parts is completely missing in this recording, you'll probably still be disappointed at the dull conducting and whimpy performance of this masterpiece. Not enough thunder and energy in this recording. I really enjoy the digital sound and the famous portrait of Napoleon on the cover though, but that doesn't make up for the mediocre performance. In my humble opinion, Muti just doesn't seem to be the right type of conductor for Beethoven symphonies."

If the Philadelphians didn't sound so good, Muti's Eroica wo

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/02/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The greatest American orchestra with the worst track record in Beethoven must be Philadelphia. The renowned Stokowski tended to ignore Beethove, Ormandy was bland and impersonal, Mut--at least as evidenced here--was tame and uninvolving, and Sawallisch was merely competent. This 'Eroica' from the mid-Eighties is quite beautifully played and recorded. But it's hard to care given Muti's faceless interpretation, which doesn't even acknowledge that the Eroica is a summit of Western music. To him it's a ho-hum day on the podium--has any other conductor seen the tragic funeral march as a stroll in the park? Even at bargain price, the only thing that merits three stars is the orchestra itself."