Sadly, Beethoven never heard it because he was completely deaf at the time he composed it. He'd written some sketches when he was a lot younger, and there's no doubt he knew what it was going to sound like. It's his gift of joy and hope to mankind :-)
Such a pinnacle of accomplishment! But look at us. in 200 years, we have moved from this sublime music to rhythmic shouting of obscenities. and we think we are getting better.
My friend Bob at one of my previous workplaces, said he was never able to get a ticket at the RAH to see this due to the speed the tickets sold out at, but he knew they would be practicing at about 1 to about 2pm he was helping with delivery at the RAH, but he said that exact practice of Ode to Joy with the 127 piece quoir made him just fall to his knees and he was completely sobbing in the loading bay. His one dream was to hear the song played fully at the RAH live with a orchestra. His dream came true he passed away the next year from throat cancer, he was 68 years old the man loved his pipes, books, cups of tea and his Beethoven on his LP. Thank you Bob it was a honor and pleasure to have worked with you. RIP brother.
Holy mother of God, what stellar production values and attention to detail. The vocalists sound *amazing*. The French horns are delectable. Just shockingly great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The most beautiful and amazing thing about this performance is all the young people performing it. I cannot imagine a piece of music the surpassed this symphony on all levels. Yes, there are pieces that are more personal to people on different levels, but surely on a musical and human level this piece should be able to speak and move to all of us. Transcend what divides us and bring us to unity and to realise and make us share our shared humanity.
This is the Best version of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I've listened to it over 20 times in the past 5 years. It was recently taken off UTUBE, but reinstated with a wonderful 5 minutes analysis by the great maestro Daniel Barenboim.
Elias, I probably listen to this symphony several times each month. It was the first symphony I ever listened to and was the beginning of my love for classical music. As the years have gone by I have grown to especially love the third movement in particular, listen with headphones if you get the chance.
I am with you. I discovered this incredibly beautiful performance two weeks ago and I have listened it more than 10 times. Always brings tears to my eyes. What an incredible composer Beethoven was. A marble of human kind.
This is....staggeringly beautiful and I've listened to this [Beethoven] 2, 3, 4 times a year for at least a decade. Whenever I feel empty (or at least recovered from despicable moments of emptiness) Beethoven pulls my heart apart and fills it with everything I'd temporarily forgotten and essentially need to remember.
Having heard and listened carefully to many conductors, I humbly think that Daniel Barenboim is the best, the deepest and the most faithful "Beethovenian" (forgive me for the adjective) conductor alive.
1st movement 7:36; 2nd movement: 25:45; 3rd movement: 38:36; 4th movement "Chorale": 55:30. You might also enjoy the discussion of the Ninth with Barenboim that precedes the start of the music.
1:09:50: that's always the point that literally gives me goosebumps, when the quiet of the instruments erupts into the full choir. It's absolutely magnificent!
This orchestra performed all nine Beethoven symphonies in a period of slightly a week in this concert hall with this final piece being over an hour in duration. That had to be an incredible amount of work and endurance.
Also, this cycle was scheduled to time with the Olympics in London, with the Ninth performed just before the opening ceremony. The conductor here would later show up in that ceremony as one of the carriers of the Olympic flag.
That was a really special performance, the musicians, choir and soloists really seem to embody the spirit of the Ode to Joy. I'm lucky enough to have experienced something similar back in 2015 with the Melbourne Symphony, Australia.
Ce qu'il y a d'extraordinaire, c'est que la musique est un langage universel, que l'on soit au,au sud,à l'est ou à l'ouest, chacun vibre de la même façon suivant la mélodie. C'est un moment de PAIX.
This music, this sublime performance, reconciles me a bit with the life of this earthly existence. Too much rationality is brought back into balance with this brilliant achievement by everyone who has contributed to this. I hope that one day humanity in all its parts will find the strength, the wisdom and the energy to make this music more peaceful and with much more respect to finally get a society here and now where everyone finds balance, can become happy and move forward.
I’m a big fan of the 9th and I had never heard this recording (I kind of collect them these days). This performance had a few unique qualities that I really enjoyed. Masterful performance!
Incredible just adding who Anna Samuil (soprano) Waltraud Meier (mezzo-soprano) Michael König (tenor) René Pape (bass) National Youth Choir of Great Britain West-Eastern Divan Orchestra Daniel Barenboim (conductor)
The 9th symphony is probably the greatest piece of music ever written on Earth and really I am not sure if it's not in the entire Universe. What is truly sad about it is that the man who wrote it never heard one single note of its beauty. It was his gift to all of us.
"... never heard one single note of its beauty". Of course he did. The music resounded in his mind and soul. There is no way for him to be able to write a masterpiece, like this, without felling it. Maybe he didn't heard the crowd screaming and applauding, maybe he didn't enjoyed so much the glory, but who cares. He lived his madness in his own way.
He may have not heard it in the traditional sense but he felt it both through vibrations and emotionally. And you're absolutely right ,I don't think music gets any better than this.
En esta sinfonia hay momentos que me generan como un TINNITUS ..muy probable es el qie que tenia BEETHOVEN en su cabeza en el padecimiento de su sordera...y en esos momentos desesperantes llega luego una resolución que es el tema resuelto de su sordera....seguramente el sufrio de algo que no podia aceptar lo que estaba oyendo .Un conflicto que se expresa como auditivo pero que es :" no poder creer lo que oigo" .Este director es un despegado total ! De memoria da el carácter de la obra en profunda interpretación con sus musicos....no es un :"marcador de tiempos" Otro argentino despegado como piazzolla como marta argerich ....admirable
Beethoven's 9th symphony is the only "perfect" piece of music every written. It has everything one needs to understand music at a fundamental level. The only thing missing would be piano, but because piano is such a powerful instrument all on its own, Beethoven composed the "Emperor" piece which, much like the 9th, displays his mastery of composition. If you listen to the 9th and don't experience an emotional response, its because you are listening, but not hearing it.
It's a shame that even so much later in humanity's course, we still have yet to come close to the utopian ideal envisioned by Schiller. The latest mass shooting at an elementary school in the U.S. brought me here to listen again.
I call the movement beginning at 25:49 The Steeplechase. I envision a dozen or more mounted riders flying across the Virginia countryside, jumping the streams and fences, glorying in a fresh spring morning. Here they come!
It is amazing, he was completely deaf when he wrote this. He had to listen to each instrument in his head. On opening night he was a half a dozen measures off when he was watching the orchestra on stage....
Maestro Barenboim undoubtedly understands Beethoven better than Beethoven. This is the pinnacle of Beethoven's life. Also completely deaf to create a masterpiece such as this is without words the best. This performance is the best I've ever heard. BRAVO
Когда Любовь Любви Любя.. Полюбит Любяще Тебя.. Тогда Любовь Любви Любя.. Не Помня Нощи и Ни Дня.. Крылом Люби Покрыв Тебя.. Любовью Все Зальет.. ЛЮБЯ...
Comparing performances could be like comparing apples and oranges everybody has a favorite. Mine has to be the Bernstein Christmas concert from 1989. His pacing that night was perfect and everyone was at their best that night.
A conductor is indeed the boss and has the authority to lead and dismiss any musucian who plays out of tune out of step or cant shut up before another section needs to play!
In 1968, von Karajan filmed a performance in which both the large chorus as well as the four soloists sang without sheetmusic -- the result was a performance of powerful directness/immediacy. Kudos to the chorus here at RAH for also singing from memory (especially notable for members of the youth choir!), but did the four seasoned soloists here at RAH really need their sheet music for their relatively minimal vocal contribution?!
Classical music vocal soloists almost always use music when performing in a concert. It could be that they simply do not have the time to memorize the music with all of their performances. For instance, opera requires an enormous amount of memorization and it is not voluntary.
