Topic: In Search of Beethoven

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- 06/26/15 @ 12:20am EDT #98661 test
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  FredSeiler Reply to Author,
  fred.seiler@gmail.com
  
  To all classical music fans here, I’d like to recommend the documentary “In Search of Beethoven”, which was written and directed by Phil Grabsky.
  
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  In the span of about two hours, it tells the story of Beethoven’s life and music, with clips of interviews with music scholars, and with dozens of clips from performances of world-class musicians. Watching this documentary gave me some understanding of Beethoven’s personality (including his tortured idealism), as well as his many musical innovations. My only criticism is minor: A few of the musicians and scholars, in trying the explain the meaning of various pieces or of Beethoven’s psychology, expressed some rather dubious ideas.
  
  But for me, the main thing I got from this documentary was a reminder of the great wealth of beautiful music that Beethoven created. Now I need to go back and listen to my Beethoven recordings.
  
  I am aware that Phil Grabsky has also directed “In Search of Mozart” and “In Search of Haydn” but I have not seen these.
- 03/13/16 @ 8:20pm EDT #111786 test
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  AmeshAdalja Reply to Author,
  AmeshAA@aol.com
  
  I also watched In Search of Beethoven and enjoyed it. I especially liked learning of Beethoven’s opposition to monarchs/dictators as exemplified by his removal of the original dedication of Symphony No. 3 to Napoleon (he very visibly scratched it out) as well as his quip that his concern was for an “empire of the mind” vs. Napoleon’s actual empire.
- 03/15/16 @ 8:11pm EDT #111822 test
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  NellKroeger Reply to Author,
  nell.kroeger@comcast.net
  
  Re: Amesh Adalja’s post 111786 of 03/13/16 at 8:20pm
  
  My husband and I watched “In Search of Beethoven” a couple of years ago, and found it excellent.
  
  The movie “Immortal Beloved” (1994) also has wonderful music. In the supplement on our DVD the director discusses the way he used the scores of Beethoven’s music to time some of the action. Despite the questions that could be raised about the chosen object of the “Immortal Beloved” letter (unlikely, according to a music scholar I know), the movie was beautifully done and even this scholar recommended it for the music.
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