Beethoven - Sym No 3 Eroica - Matacic, Czech PO - 1962

Karel Ancerl (11 April 1908 – 3 July 1973), was a Czech conductor, known for his performances of contemporary music and for his interpretations of music by Czech composers. His recordings with Czech Philharmonic acquired many international awards (several times Golden Harmony Award, Grand Prix du disque, etc.) and digitalized titled, Karel Ancerl Gold Edition was awarded by Grand Prix du Disque de l'Académie Charles Cros.



He led the wonderful Czech Philharmonic from 1950, succeeding Vaclav Talich, conducting classics and modern works, expanding the orchestra's repertoire greatly. The flourishing of liberal sentiment in 1968, alas, led to the Prague Spring revolt and the crushing response by the Soviet Union; Ancerl emigrated to Canada as a result.

In this period of the late 1960s, he was principal conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where I had the pleasure of hearing him live, in the concert hall and on the lawn.

Ancerl conducts the Czech PO in Beethoven's Leonore No 3 on 10-11 Dec 1962 in Dvorak Hall, Prague.

The main work, Beethoven's Eroica, is conducted by Croatian born conductor Lovro von Matacic, again with the Czech PO. The liner notes refer to "1962/63" but the only performance referred to in Gramophone, and other sources, call this a 1959 recording (originally released as a Parliament LP). I've had this performance in a couple of guises and recommend it.