83: BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 'Eroica' Symphony No. 8 CSR Symphony Orchestra Zagreb Philharmonic Michael HalBsz Richard Edlinger 11988 ~ecording1 playing Time :69'23" 1 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Symhony No. 3 in E Flat Major, Op. 55 'Eroica' Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 Beethoven wrote nine svmphonies, the first heraldina the new centurv, in 1800, and the last compleied'in 1824. Although he mad; few changes tdthe composition of the orchestra itself. addina. when occasion demanded. one or Go instruments more normally foundln the opera-house, he expanded vastlv the traditional form. developed in the time of Havdn and Mozart. reflecting the personal and .plitical strugglesof a period of immense change and turbulence. To his contemwraries he seemed an inimitable oriainal, but to a number of his suocessors'he seemed to have expanded the symphony to an intimidating extent. The inital inspiration for Beethoven's third symphony seems to have come from the French envoy, Count Bernadotte, who had been sent to Vienna in 1798, taking with him in his entourage the virtuoso violinist and composer Rodolphe Kreutzer, to whom Beethoven was later to dedicate his most famous violin sonata. Bernadotte spent some time in Beethoven's company and seems to have given him the notion of composing a heroic symphony in honour of General Bonaparte. The French had. bv force of arms, established a number of republics and had compelled hitria to unfavourable peace terms at the treatvof Camm Formio. As First Consul it seemed that Napoleon embodied the vikues of the republic of classical Rome, an ideal thai had a strong attraction for Beethoven. The score of the completed svmphonv was seen bv Beethoven's friends early in 1804, bearing oil its title-page thk name ~uonaparteat the top and the subscription Luiai van Beethoven. At the news that Na~oleonhad declared himself emperor, Cethoven tore the page up, leaving on his own copy the words Sinfonia grande, with the added note in pencil Geschrieben auf Bonaparte. The completed work was in the end dedicated to Prince Lobkowitz, who payed 400 ducats for the privilege. A recent biographer has pointed out that Beethoven had expressed disillusion with Napoleon before he wrote the Eroica Symphony, but that at the time of its composition he was considering moving to Paris. There was, at the very least, a certain ambivalence in Beethoven's attitude to the greatness of Napoleon's achievement and to his apparent betrayal of republican ideals. The Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Opus 55, has a number of original features, including the substitution of afuneral march for the slow movement, a Scheno for the Minuet, as in the D major Symphony, and aset of variations forthe finale. It is, besides, on a heroic scale, scored for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, trumpets and drums, with three French horns and the customary strings. Beethoven made his first sketches for his eighth symphony in 1811 and completed the work in October the following year, during the course of avisit to Linz. The summer had taken him to the spa town of Teplitz, where he was to meet the great German poet and polymath Goethe, to little effect, while the subsequent journey to Linz was undertaken for the officious purpose of forcing his younger brother Johann, an apothecary in the town, to break off his irregular liaison with Therese Obermever, a woman that Johann married in ~ovgmberof the same year. whatever anxieties he may have entertained atthe time about his health or about membersof hisfamilv.-. he created in the Eighth Symphony a work of clear optimism. The Symphony No. 8 in F major, Opus 93, is scored for the usual orchestra of strings, with pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpetsand timpani. Of its four movements three are in sonata form, with its tripartite division of exposition, development and recapitulation, while the third movement Minuet is in a form that had long been traditional. The Eighth Symphony was given its first performance, together with the Seventh Symphony and other works, at aconcert on 27th February, 1814. To Beethoven's chagrin it was greeted relatively coolly, the audience favouring in particular the Allegretto of the Seventh Symphony. He himself set higher store by the Eighth. Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) The Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), the oldest symphonic ensemble in Slovakia, was founded in 1929 at the instance of Milos Ruppeldt and Oskar Nedbal, prominent personalities in the sphere of music. Ondrej Lenard was appointed its conductor in 1970and in 1977 itsconductor-inchief. The orchestra has given successful concerts both at home and abroad, in West and East Germany, Russia, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Spain, Italy, and Great Britain. Zagreb Phllharmonlc Orchestra Zagreb, the seond city in modern Yugoslavia, occupies an important place in the musical life of the country. The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra was established in 1920, inheriting the symphonic traditions of its predecessor, the orchestra of the opera-house. Since then it has won a national and international reputation, appearing in major cities throughout Eastern and Western Europe and the United States of America. During the course of its existence the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra has worked with the most distinguished conductors, including Bruno Walter, Clemens Krauss, Felix Weingartner, Rafael Kubelik, Leopold Stokowski, Sir Malcolm Sargent, lgor Markevich, Kyril Kondrashin, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Stanislav Skrowaczewsky, Zubin Mehta, Paul Kletzki, Otmar Suitner, Jean Martinon, Vaclav Neumann and Sir John Barbirolli. The orchestra also has given concerts under the direction of lgor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland and Lukas Foss. Since 1980 Pavel Despalj has been principal conductor and artistic director of the orchestra. Michael Halasz Born in Hungary in 1938, Michael Halasz began his professional career as ~rincioalbassoonist in the Philharmonia Hunaarica. a Dosition he occu~ied +or eight years, before studying conducting iri~ssen.'His first engagerilent as a conductor was at the Munich Gaertnerplatz Theatre, where, from 1972 to 1975, he directed all operetta productions. In 1975 he moved to Frankfurt as principal ~apellmeisterundei Christoph von Dohnanyi, working with the most distinguished singers and conductina the most im~ortantworks of the operatic repertoire. ~Tngagementsas a guestcondudor followed, and in 1977 Dohnanyi took him to the Staatsoper in Hamburg as principal Kapellmeister. In 1978 Michael Halasz was appointed General Musical Director at the opera-house in Hagen, and there further developed his experience of the repertoire, while undertaking guest engagements; which inciuded television appearances as conductor in English and German versions of the Gerard Hoffnung Music Festival, as well as work with the Philharmonia Hungarica, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and the Hilversum Radio Orchestra. For the Marco Polo label, Michael Halasz has recorded works by Richard Strauss, Anton Rubinstein and Miaskovsky and for Naxos works by Tchaikovsky and Beethoven. Richard Edlinger The Austrian conductor Richard Edlinger was born in Bregenz in 1958 and directed his first concert at the age of seventeen. In 1982 he completed his studies in conducting and composition at the Vienna Academy, having by then already acquired considerable professional experience on the podium. He was the youngest finalist in the 1983 Guido Cantelli Conductors' Competition at La Scala, Milan, and since 1986 he has been Artistic Director of the Capella Istropolitana, an orchestra with which he has undertaken various European tours. Richard Edlinger has made recent appearances with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra,the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Georae Enescu Philharmonic, the orchestra of La &la, Milan, and the RTSl orchestra in Lugano. In 1987 he was appointed Music Director of the Kamptal Festival in Austria. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) Sinfonien Nr. 3 und 8 Die Einteilung des Beethovenschen Schaffens in eine frohe, mimere und eine @te Periode dient dem heilh8rigen Musikfreund eher als Ordnungsprinzip, ais Hilfe be1 der Fiazierung der Sonaten, Slnfonien. Streichquartette. Trios, Vokalwerke und Lieder. in den einzelnen Werkbereichen - und so auch in den hier zur Diskussion stehenden Sinfonien - sind die musikalischgtiiistischen Grenzen flieBend. Denn falsch ware es anzunehmen, der Kornponist hatte skh bewuet als ein YrUher", 'mittlerer' oder 'spgtef Beethoven seinern Pubilkum mitaeteiit. immer nimmt er BewAhrtes auf, um es seinem jeweiligen Entwicklungsstandenkrechend mit Neuem zu verbinden. inwfern markiert iede der neun Sinfonien Beethovens eine Position der Fortschrittlichkeit,]a oft sogar der k~hnenUmwazung, aber irnmer mit forrnalen oder Inhaltlichen dOckgriffen auf Gewesenes. So sind Beethovens sinfonische Ahnherren Haydn und Mozart nicht nur in den beiden ersten Slnfonien zu sparen, sondern sozusagen In Spurenelementen auch in der Dritten Sinfonle, der sogenannten 'Eroica'. Doch besonders in dieser in den Jahren 180314 entstandenen Partitur, die sich in der Besetzung von den Votgangemerken nur in der Forderung nach drei H8mem unterscheidet, werden die Unterschiede zur elthergebrachten Sprache deutlich. Beethoven folgt mar den klassischen' Richtlinien hinsichtlkh der motivischen Verarbeitung und des tonalen Spannungsausgleichs, aber er weitet entschlossen die Konzeption (etwa 45 Minuten Spieidauerl) aus, verschafidiethematischenGegen&tre. Mitder Uberschrift'Sinfonia