Nikolaus Harnoncourt - Beethoven: Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (1995)

This zippy ballet is early Beethoven--the only work of its type that he ever wrote. It dates from the same time as the First Symphony, which is around 1800, and is noteworthy in two other respects: it's the only piece of orchestral music that Beethoven ever wrote that uses a harp (I know--big deal--but from such trivia are music snobs made. Go intimidate your friends!), and he uses a tune that later becomes the main theme of the finale of the Third Symphony, and consequently the subject of the Eroica Variations for piano solo. Nikolaus Harnoncourt is great with music of this sort, investing it with uncommon urgency and making it sound suitably grand. -- David Hurwitz