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| Ludwig van Beethoven |
On September 18, 20, 21, and 23rd, Music Director
Riccardo Muti will conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I've long considered the 9th as the world's greatest artistic achievement. The concerts have long been sold out but I'll be standing at the ticket office window hoping to get lucky on a donated ticket. Chicago Arts patrons are good about donating tickets back to be resold rather than allowing them to go unused. I've occasionally had to donate back my tickets due to traffic or flight delays so I'm hoping this time to be on the receiving end of a thoughtful patron's generosity.
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| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
Beethoven and Mozart are generally said to be the two greatest composers with Bach sometimes also mentioned. Which one do you favor? I love Mozart but Beethoven hits closest to home with me. I can feel Beethoven's struggles, and triumph, over all the disorder in his life so I find his music more inspiring than the genteel elegance of Mozart. Please share a favorite recording or tell of a concert that you found most memorable.
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| Gary Oldman as Beethoven in Immortal Beloved. |
Beethoven was in Vienna, briefly, at the same time as Mozart and had intended on studying under him but had to return to Bonn on a family matter. There has always been speculation as to whether these two titans ever met. Wikipedia says a meeting might have taken place in 1787 between the 17 year old Beethoven and 31 year old Mozart. I like thinking they did meet and an account will miraculously be discovered tucked away in a Viennese library.
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| Tom Hulce as Mozart in Amadeus |
In the movies, Mozart and Beethoven have had mixed results. Milos Forman directed a near masterpiece in 1984 with
Amadeus. The Beethoven biopic
Immortal Beloved was mostly a disappointment.
Amadeus was actually carried by the supporting cast (and beautiful sound track) led by F. Murray Abraham whose role as Salieri, Mozart's bitter rival, who so perfectly introduced the audience to Mozart's prodigious gifts. In the lead role, Tom Hulce was hopelessly, if understandably, overmatched. Nothing about his performance felt right. That odd silly laugh was only an irritating reminder that Hulce wasn't up to the task. Everything else about the movie was so well done, that the movie still succeeded. Playing the role of one of the world's greatest ever genius' seems like an impossible task, especially after watching Hulce's performance, but it has been done. Gary Oldman was sensational as Beethoven in
Immortal Beloved. Oldman, at the very least, has an acquaintance with genius that Hulce does not. If you haven't seen Immortal Beloved then go have a look as Oldman's performance is the best I've ever seen on screen and largely wasted in a movie that missed the mark.
Post Script: Per The Darling Hattatts mention in the comments section; I just listened to Brahms excellent 1st Symphony and the Beethoven influence was pleasingly apparent and further research showed even more interesting similarities.
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| A famous cartoon of Brahms from when he lived in Vienna. It seems that this other alternately difficult or charming German ladies man who never married used to take long walks (always with his hands behind his back) and set up shop in a tavern called The Red Hedgehog. Sounds like my kinda guy! |
