red = repeat blue = no repeat
My interpretation of the results:
This chart plots 419 performances of the first movement of the Eroica.
From left to right the recording dates progress from 1924 to 2000. From bottom to top the total duration progresses from 12:17 (Coates) to 21:03 (Asahina)
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My interpretation of the results:
On the one hand, conductors like Toscanini and Kleiber set the standard for the "fast" Eroica. On the other, conductors such as Furtwängler, Klemperer, Jochum, and Walter explored the "slow" Eroica, getting slower as the years went by.
Kleiber's 1955 performance seems to declare, "if you really feel there's 16 minutes of music in this movement, why not take the repeat at the 'fast' tempo?" And then the same process repeats itself: slower and slower performances continue to appear, this time taking the repeat.