100 Years of Beethoven's Eroica (recordings)
Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast25 Sep 2025

100 Years of Beethoven's Eroica (recordings)

One of my favorite things about having Patreon sponsors is that they often suggest the most fascinating pieces and topics for shows. Adrian, who sponsored a show last year, gave me one of my favorite prompts when he suggested looking at works based on literature. Now he's sponsored another episode, this time with an equally compelling idea that I was eager to explore right away. His prompt was:

"The evolution of conducting techniques throughout recorded history. How have innovations from great conductors changed how music is performed and understood?"

As a conductor, the thought of diving into different recordings of a single piece naturally whets my appetite. But the real reason I was so excited about this episode is that interpretation is, in my view, wildly misunderstood. I've tried to tackle this idea in many different ways, in my episode about the sound of the violin with Soovin Kim and my dad, Donald Weilerstein; in my "What Does Music Mean?" episode; and even in "What Does a Conductor Really Do?" But I've never taken a single piece and focused solely on its interpretation, and on how that interpretation has changed over time.

This gives us the chance to dig deeply into what makes an interpretation. So today, I'm going to share a set of recordings of one piece (and don't worry, I'll reveal which one in a moment). I'll talk about what sets them apart, both the obvious differences, like pitch and extremes of tempo, and the more subtle ones, like vibrato, phrasing, and other elements of performance that most listeners aren't trained to notice.

So, let's do some exploring together, coming right up, on Sticky Notes.

Episoder(282)

Beethoven Piano Sonata in B Flat Major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier" - Part 2

Beethoven Piano Sonata in B Flat Major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier" - Part 2

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24 Jul 202553min

Beethoven Piano Sonata in B♭ major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier" - Part 1

Beethoven Piano Sonata in B♭ major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier" - Part 1

Beethoven once wrote to his publisher: "What is difficult, is also beautiful, good, great, and so forth. Hence everyone will realize that this is the most lavish praise that can be bestowed, since wha...

10 Jul 202544min

Weill: The Seven Deadly Sins

Weill: The Seven Deadly Sins

The collaboration between Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht is rightly legendary. The two men could not have been more different from each other, and like the Brahms/Joachim relationship I mentioned in my...

26 Jun 20251h

The Ravel Sound with Norbert Müllemann and Stefan Knüpfer

The Ravel Sound with Norbert Müllemann and Stefan Knüpfer

I so enjoyed making this latest episode in my collaboration with G Henle Publishers. I talked with two absolute experts in their fields, Norbert Mülleman and Stefan Knüpfer, all about how to edit Rave...

12 Jun 202545min

Dvorak Violin Concerto

Dvorak Violin Concerto

Admit it: if you're a fan of classical music—or even just a regular concertgoer—you might have glanced at the title of this episode and done a double take. The Dvořák Violin Concerto? Not the Cello Co...

29 Mai 202549min

Brahms Double Concerto

Brahms Double Concerto

It's entirely possible that we would not know the name of Johannes Brahms very well if Brahms hadn't met Joseph Joachim as a very young man. Joachim, who was one of the greatest violinists of all time...

15 Mai 202558min

Copland Clarinet Concerto

Copland Clarinet Concerto

The commission for a new Clarinet Concerto from the great American composer Aaron Copland came from a rather unlikely source: Benny Goodman, the man known as the King of Swing. Goodman was one of the ...

1 Mai 202548min

Steve Reich: Different Trains

Steve Reich: Different Trains

Steve Reich, the great American contemporary composer, provided this program note about his work Different Trains: "The idea for the piece came from my childhood. When I was one year old my parents se...

17 Apr 202552min

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