52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More heroic than I had realized, November 19, 2006
This review is from: Keeping Score: Revolutions in Music - Beethoven's Eroica (DVD)
This dvd was given to me by friends who know I love to learn more and more about music.
It consists of a complete performance by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra of Beethoven's Third Symphony, "The Eroica,"
AND
Michael Tilson Tilson Thomas, conducting a movement by movement "tour" of Beethoven's Third. Tilson Thomas explains what was going on in Beethoven's life and provides various explanations of why the music is the way it is. Comments are added by some of the SFSO's musicians, including their approach to playing Beethoven.
I had long known of Beethoven's original intention of dedicating the symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte, whom Ludwig saw as "a leader come from the people." Later, of course, when Bonaparte crowned himself emperor, Beethoven literaly scratched out the dedication to Napoleon, and it has been hereafter know simply as the Eroica, or heroic symphony.
What I didn't know, which Micael Tilson Thomas explains, is that Beethoven was confronting the reality of his impending deafness, just at the time he was writing this symphony. He explains how the symphony includes Beethoven's anguish and (unfounded) shame at being a deaf musician. Yet he goes on to explain that Beethoven faces this demon, and the music tells us that he goes on with life. Thus Beethoven's Eroica is heroic in more ways than is commonly known.
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Exploration of Eroica, March 10, 2007
This review is from: Keeping Score: Revolutions in Music - Beethoven's Eroica (DVD)
It is a shame that more DVDs of this quality are not produced. A movement by movement explanation of a pioneering work in classical music history. MTT does a fabulous job of providing his personal insights into the music with a terrific musical ensemble. This is the "Big Picture" tour of the work, the great facade of the building and not necessarily the intricacies of its architecture. A detailed exploration of the nearly molecular construction of the music is not undertaken (it would take quite a few DVDs for that) but the overall storyline is beautifully explained. Beethoven's music has a poignancy that can't be denied; a sharing of thoughts and emotions with his audience that leaves both better off for the experience. I hope there will be more pieces such as this about Beethoven's music in the future. I heartily recommend this to any fan of classical music.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heroic MTT, February 27, 2007
This review is from: Keeping Score: Revolutions in Music - Beethoven's Eroica (DVD)
I was at one the performances they filmed for this wonderful DVD. The SF Symphony is my favorite band (this from an ol' Deadhead!), and MTT is brilliant! I hope he never leaves.
We have all heard the Eroica a million times before. How could there be anything new to hear in it? The SF Symphony succeeds. An example, there is a moment in the variations of the fourth movement when the first chairs, violin and viola, share a few fleeting mesaures, and you realize why Alexander Barantschik and Geraldine Walther are first chairs. What they do seems spontaneous and absolutely magical. The performance is filled with such moments.
I recommend all of the DVDs in the "Keeping the Score" series. The performances are more than first rate, and MTT supplies an insightful and informative lecture in each instance. They would have done Lenny proud.
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