Coriolan Overture (Beethoven)

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Ouvertüre Coriolan, op. 62, is a composition written by Ludwig van Beethoven to Heinrich Joseph von Collin's tragedy in 1807. The structure and themes of the overture follow the play very generally. The main C minor theme represents Coriolan's resolve and war-like tendencies (he is about to invade Rome), and the tender E flat major theme represents the pleadings of his mother to desist. Coriolan eventually gives in to tenderness, but since he cannot turn back having led an army of his former enemies to Rome's gates, he kills himself.

[edit] Recordings

The most highly regarded recordings are of Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker (1943) and Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1959. Neither of these recordings, however, is done on period instruments or with the proper Beethoven metronome markings. For a historically informed performance, turn to Sir Roger Norrington conducting the London Classical Players (in a boxed set along with the 9 symphonies).

Other notable recordings include those by Herbert von Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic,Karl Böhm with the Vienna Philharmonic,Carlos Kleiber conducting Bavaria State Orchestra and Bruno Walter conducting the Columbia Symphony.