Ludwig van Beethoven

[LG]

Where to start,,,well for me at the very beginning is as good a place as any. I bought a copy of his first two symphonies, when I was collecting CD's early in the 90's I used to always try and get a DDD copy of the work, it wasn't until later that I realized that a better orchestra conductor made more of a difference than the technology involved. I owe that to my friend who owns his own Classical music store, he taught me everything I know about it to this day. I would simply go into to his store mill around aimlessly like a kid in a toy store then he would ask what I was interested in so we'd start talking he would walk over to a section of his displays and pull out a work that he felt was one of the best he could offer. That was how I began to learn about the subtleties in Classical music.

Still this is the first CD I ever bought from him, Telarc's been one of my favorite labels for over 30 years so I knew the quality would be good. These two Symphonies are not as grand or famous as the later ones, in fact if you played these two after listening to Joseph Haydn's London Symphonies you would think they were related. Beethoven always looked up to Haydn and you can hear his tribute to "the Master" easily in these works if you know what to listen for.(I realize they are both quite long, but if you are interested just open another Tab and load them and keep browsing posting in the forum, that's what I do when I'm catching up on all the recommendations in here.)

Symphony #1.



Symphony #2

 

[METALPRIEST]

 

[LG]

That is a great drawing of old Ludwig in action MP...

Later on when he was almost completely deaf he would still conduct some of his works and the orchestra just played on their own, many times the music was over and he was still waving his arms and baton commanding the troops, the audience was very understanding and knew about his condition.

Coming tomorrow, the 3rd Symphony.

 

[LG]

As promised Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, named "Eroica". This composition was written with the intent of Ludwig to embrace the "Age of Enlightenment" that Napoleon was supposed to bring to the continent, as history played out however things didn't turn out so well for the countries that Bonaparte visited on his "Grand Tour". I always wondered if he fired his travel agent after they convinced him it was a good idea to visit Russia in the winter. Anyway despite the motivations the piece remains a great symphony, and can be enjoyed without any historical background details.

I have two complete sets of Beethoven's Symphonies, one with modern instruments, and the one I am posting the picture of now, done with Period Instruments and keeping to the exact time notations of Beethoven to try and reproduce as faithfully as possible the work as it would have sounded when it was written.

Part one, conducted by Karajan.

 

[LXA]

Man, I love Beethoven. Listening to Symphony No. 8 on my iPod right now. Sounds kind of odd coming from a teenager of the 21st century, but I speak the truth!

 

[LG]

^^That's great LXA!..

I really love seeing younger people stretching out and giving the old masters a chance. I will play Symphony #8 later myself.

 

[rollingstoned]

He's my favorite composer from the classical era as well.

 

[LG]

Great to know you like a little Ludwig too Rollingstoned...

He seems to just have a Magic about his music that has stood the test of time. Another by-product of his popularity is if people check out some other great music from centuries past, by the other composers.

I will post another Beethoven CD tomorrow.

 

[LG]

It's at times like this I always remember that classic album title by Ian Hunter..."You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic"...

Getting down to business, here's another masterpiece from Ludwig, "The Emperor" piano concerto. I have two versions of this piece, one done on Period instruments and wooden framed piano, and the one I'm posting now done with a modern orchestra and metal framed piano, played by the maestro Claudio Arrau.

I could recite a full page about this particular composition, but I'll keep it brief. Before Ludwig wrote this Monster, most piano concertos were composed to be lighthearted fare heard more in drawing rooms and parties for wealthy patrons than concert halls. The "Emperor" shattered that forever, it is vibrant, lively, passionate, it explodes into life and changed the perception of the piano concerto for everyone that came after it was written and performed. Oh and it's just plain beautiful to listen to,,,as an added bonus.

I could post the whole work but here's the 1st movement, with one of my favorite pianists Glenn Gould.

 

[Craig in Indy]

Every movement of the "Emperor" is fantastic, but the Adagio is particularly beautiful. I especially love the way it merges so seamlessly into the finale.

A lot of people were first introduced to the work by the (generally good but occasionally embarrassing) Richard Dreyfuss/Amy Irving film The Competition.

BTW, LG, if you don't have it already there's a great and inexpensive version of it by Gina Bachauer with Stanislaw Skrowaczewski conducting the LSO. It's on Mercury's old 35mm film-recorded "Living Presence" series that has such tremendous sound. I just pulled it up here on iTunes to listen to while I type this.