It was Jascha Horenstein's Beethoven which first brought him to the attention of the so-called "influencers" of Weimar-era Berlin. One concert in particular went down particularly well - Adolph Weissman, “experienced anew Beethoven’s Eroica”, while Walter Schrenk, reviewing the same concert, described Horenstein as “surely one the greatest kapellmeisters of the young generation.”
Here we present two symphonies as we begin our Beethoven 250th Anniversary season: Horenstein recorded the 3rd 'Eroica' Symphony twice for Vox in the 1950s and this is his first "from the heart" version with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra from 1953.
Also included is a much rarer work for Horenstein, the Eighth Symphony, which saw very few performances in the conductor's concert output, yet receives here a superbly rousing performance from a 1952 radio concert broadcast with the Orchestre National de France.