Bbc Symphony Orchestra Beethoven Symphony No. 3, Op. 55, Eroica

“If this isn't great interpretation, I don't know what is,” wrote Gramophone’s reviewer in 1968, when this recording was first released, “I have no hesitation in saying that I think it the greatest performance I have yet heard on record.”

Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Orchestra bring their unique energy to one of the summits of the orchestral repertoire - Beethoven’s mighty Symphony No.3, the “Eroica”.

Les Siècles is a French philharmonic orchestra founded in 2003 by François-Xavier Roth, whose ambition is to put works from the 17th to today into perspective. The musicians of this orchestra play each repertoire on the appropriate historical instruments.

Beethoven took a massive stride forward in the development of the symphonic form with the 'Eroica'. Not only is the work written on an unprecedented scale, it also lays the very foundations of Romanticism in music.The symphony mirrors Beethoven's own emergence from despair and he used it to symbolize mankind's capacity for greatness. He initially dedicated the score to Napoleon whom embodied his view of greatness. However, when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor, Beethoven furiously removed the dedication from the score.