Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven in the news

Coverage of Beethoven from the Classical Notes blog.

• Brooklyn Rider and Beethoven
  Colin, Eric, Johnny and Nick meet Ludwig van Beethoven...
• The Short Version: Self Assessment
  Any prolific composer could surprise us with how they rank their own works. Perhaps it's as simple and as compelling as "What have I done lately?" This 19th century Titan might have dismissed one of our favorites with, "That's so 1808."
• Beethoven the Charismatic!
  SNL Host Jimmy Fallon adds Ludwig van Beethoven to his list of impersonations!
• Seven More Days Until Beethoven's Birthday (More or Less)
  A week from today (December 16) is Beethoven's birthday. As pointed out by Lucy in this classic strip, we don't really know this. What we do know is that Beethoven was baptized on the 17th of December, and Catholic children were traditionally baptized on the day following birth.
• The Short Version: Apocryphal
  This is the man God has sent us. . . .
• The King's Speech and Beethoven
  Having finally seen "The King's Speech" over the weekend, I was all fired up to write a marvelous blog about how the film smartly uses the music of Beethoven (Mozart too!) to fully enhance the drama. Alas, it seems David...
• Low Cal Beethoven
  It was common practice in Beethoven's day to arrange large scale works for smaller forces. After all, getting to the concert hall wasn't always possible, so this allowed amateur musicians to experience great music right in their homes. Beethoven's assistant,...
• Here's Your Moment of Beethoven
  Recently, a colleague of mine stopped me in the hall to ask about a certain piece of classical music that had grabbed his attention. And a little later, another colleague stopped me in the hall, with a similar question. They...
• Mixed Reviews for Beethoven on Broadway
  Back in November I posted a note about 33 Variations, a play about a musicologist trying to unravel one last Beethoven mystery before she dies. Well, the play has opened, and the reviews suggest the show has a lot of...
• Schiff on Beethoven, Again
  Andras Schiff has been spending a lot of time with Beethoven in recent years, playing all 32 piano sonatas in a series of 8 recitals in London, New York and Los Angeles (and maybe other cities, too?). He's gotten reviews...
• Beethoven on Broadway
  Publisher Anton Diabelli wrote a short waltz and sent it to 50 composers, asking each of them to write a variation on it. Beethoven turned him down--but then ultimately wrote 33 variations on it. Why? That's the question at the...
• Written by Bach .... Mrs. Bach, That Is
  What if some of J. S. Bach's best loved pieces were actually composed by his wife? That's the conclusion that an Australian music scholar has reached. Is it a logical conclusion, far-fetched, or somewhere in between? Judge for yourself and...
• Andras Schiff on Beethoven
  I mentioned this on the air this morning, so I thought I'd post a link, too. Pianist Andras Schiff has been playing all of the Beethoven sonatas in a series of eight recitals. A couple of years ago, when he...
• Beethoven + Minnesota Orchestra + Osmo Vanska = Perfect 10
  Happy news in the New Year for the Minnesota Orchestra. Not long after receiving a Grammy nomination for their recording of Beethoven's Ninth, their new CD of Beethoven's First and Sixth Symphonies gets a perfect 10 rating from critic David...
• Beethoven Gets Even
  Just in case you missed it on All Things Considered: Music critic Tom Manoff taking notice that the most famous Beethoven symphonies have the odd numbers (Beethoven's Fifth, Beethoven's Ninth..), and the "neglected" ones, the even. Actually, in the case...
• Beethoven, Klemperer and Mendelssohn
  So, the Minnesota Orchestra kicked off their "Beethoven's Back" promotion today with The Big Guy himself handing out coffee, newspapers and downloads in front of Orchestra Hall this morning, and it reminded me of a story about Beethoven's Fifth Symphony...