Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 ‘Eroica’

It was Beethoven’s original intention that his third symphony should be entitled “Bonaparte,” in honor of Napoleon Bonaparte. But when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor, he became, in Beethoven’s eyes, “only another tyrannical despot.” Beethoven finally named it “Sinfonia Eroica” (Italian for Heroic Symphony) “composed in honor of a great man.” The great work is paired with the Valses nobles et sentimentales by Maurice Ravel. From its title, in which two Waltz cycles by Schubert are mentioned (Valses Nobles and Valses Sentimentales), it is clear that it was Ravel’s intention to compose a sequence of waltzes based on Schubert. Like many of Ravel’s works, it was written first for piano and later orchestrated by the composer. One of the leading conductors of the 1980s and 1990s, Giuseppe Sinopoli leads the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in this live recording.