Premiered in 1805, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica” was a game changer. The symphony as a form would never be the same again. Originally dedicated to Napoleon, the work celebrates mankind’s extraordinary power, but when Napoleon had himself crowned emperor, the dedication was scratched out. It’s a huge, ambitious, and magnificent creation, massive in scale, culminating in a theme-and-variation finale of shattering power. Daniel Barenboim’s Staatskapelle Berlin recording from 1999 rises powerfully to the symphony’s challenges and—broad in tempo and fully alive to the work’s drama—is a pretty magnificent achievement, drawing impressive playing from this Berlin ensemble.
