EXQUISITE BEAUTY AND GLORIOUS!!! My favorite conductor My favorite pianist
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No 5 "Emperor"
Movement I: Allegro
Leonard Bernstein
Pianist : Krystian Zimerman.
Orchestra : Vienna Philharmonic
Today I wanted us to truly listen to
the 2nd and 3rd movements of this Beethoven Piano Concerto
Please click over to the 21: 25 minute mark of this video
So you can begin listening to the 2nd and 3rd movements Just sit back and listen in amazement As Krystian Zimerman's divine hands flow over the keyboard As Leonard Bernstein's divine heart conducts the Vienna
This is Beethoven at his best (In my humble opinion)
Today I wanted us to only listen to the 1st movement
It ends at the 21:25 minute mark
Under NO CirCUMstances
ARe you to listen to the rest of this concerto today
You will be punished if you do
I will spank you
: )
Naw - if you have time I recommend listening to all of it
But I really wanted you to truly listen to the first movement today
I think I will play the 2nd movement tomorrow
Just sit back and listen in amazement
As Krystian Zimerman's divine hands flow over the keyboard
As Leonard Bernstein's divine heart conducts the Vienna
This is Beethoven at his best (In my humble opinion)
So many moments of beauty in this piece
I especially love the Piano and French Horn at the 19:12
"Beethoven began composing his ‘Emperor’ Piano Concerto in 1809, while Vienna was under invasion from Napoleon’s forces for the second time. Napoleon's bombardment and occupation of Vienna caused Beethoven a great deal of anxiety and anger in the midst of all the turmoil.
Beethoven wrote at the time, “The whole course of events has affected my body and soul,” he wrote. “What a disturbing, wild life around me; nothing but drums, cannons, men, misery of all sorts.”
Beethoven began his work on this piece in 1808, about the time that he completed his fifth and sixth symphonies and fourth piano concerto. Despite difficult living conditions the composer finished it promptly."
As this music opened the The Huntley-Brinkley Report
on NBC News years ago
WHAT A WORKOUT!!!!
WHEW!!!
I really LOVE Lenny's expressions and dance
As he conducts this highly energetic music
He is soooo into it!
Conducted by Leonard Bernstein, THE BERLIN CELEBRATION CONCERT is an historic performance marking the fall of the Berlin Wall. Performed on Christmas Day 1989 in the former East Berlin, the concert unites an international cast of celebrated musicians and vocalists for a moving performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Musicians from: Symphonieorchester des Bayerisches Rundfunks and members of Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestra of the Leningrad Kirov Theatre, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Orchestre de Paris.
"This clip is absolutely sensational: as education, composition and in performance.
Glenn Gould was 28 years old here.
For the impatient, Gould's performance begins at 5:08, but I strongly encourage you to watch Leonard Bernstein's fascinating introduction.
This film originally aired in 1960 on CBS Television as part of its "Ford Presents" series.
The entire film in high quality (of which this clip is a small part) was painstakingly hunted down by YouTuber erp65 and his friends. It can be found here, and I urge you, I really DO urge you, to see it in its entirety":
This movement makes me feel like dancing and running with joy and glee (and Joy and Glee agree and dance and run with me! : ) And so to, do most conductors as they conduct. This movement bounces with joy and playfulness. While it starts energetically, it moves into a very powerful slower section that is so emotionally lifting and explosive that it cannot be described by me.
This movement is considered by many to be in the pantheon of the greatest music ever written. Beethoven's 7th was a big hit and the 2nd movement is one of the reasons why - in fact, audiences clamored for it to be played as an encore in 1813 when it was first performed. It became a movement that many orchestras singled out to play all by itself. It is truly one of the most emotional pieces of music every written.
As I listen to this movement,
I feel the deepest yearning and feelings of nostalgia
This Music inspired today's photo set This piece starts out really slow at first And you might say, "BORING - NEXT!" But STAY WITH IT It builds and builds and builds To one of the most intensely sublime climaxes I've ever experienced
I'm asking for 9 and a half minutes
of your time and undivided attention
To truly listen to the finale of
Gustav Mahler's Symphony #2 "Resurrection"
This is the Sound of Ecstasy
Overwhelming, Powerful, Unbridled JOY
And like the drug Ecstasy
You'll probably want to hug and kiss everyone
When you finish listening to it
: )
This symphony depicts judgement day
When all souls are freed from death
To rise to enter into eternal spiritual bliss
Here's an excerpt from what Mahler said:
"...The last trumpet sounds; the trumpets of the Apocalypse ring out. In the eerie silence that follows, we can just barely make out a distant nightingale, a last tremulous echo of earthly life. The gentle sound of a chorus of saints and heavenly hosts is then heard: “Rise again, yes, rise again thou wilt!” Then God in all His glory comes into sight. A wondrous light strikes us to the heart. All is quiet and blissful. Lo and behold: there is no judgment, no sinners, no just men, no great and no small; there is no punishment and no reward. A feeling of overwhelming love fills us with blissful knowledge and illuminates our existence.” (Source)
I first listened to this when I was 15 years old
I'd get tingles down my neck and spine
Everytime I listened to the amazing climax
Now that I am older
I cannot listen to this without tears and gasps
The more I've listen to it,
the more sublime it has become for me
I realize this music may be a bit heavy
But I believe if you really give it a chance
And truly listen to all of it
You will begin to love it, too
Don't let anything stop you
Turn off your phone
Get rid of any distractions
This is supremely special
(It's how I feel about it anyway)
Don't let the slow beginning turn you off
Stay with it
By the end you may (hopefully) be thanking
God, Mahler, YouTube, me - the Universe
: )
I hope you get something special
From your journey with this music
I often suggest that you listen to the music
while you continue viewing AOMMD
Not today
If you have time,
First
Listen and watch Bernstein conduct
(Watching him is a joy in itself)
Then Listen to it viewing the photo set below And if you are game
Listen again with your eyes closed
The more you hear this music
The more you will get out of it
Quotes from YouTubers about this performance:
-
"Just look at Bernstein's expression...
he's the embodiment of music itself?"
-
"It is perhaps the most sublime comfort music can offer: the hope that there is something beyond, something transcendent. Maybe the belief that we are more than the sum of our parts. Perhaps that spark of the divine that is in each of us found its expression in this music. Whatever it was/is, it is magnificent."
-
"This one symphony has done more to give me strength through hard times than any other music I have ever heard."
-
"I played this for my wife some 15 years ago. She described it as "the angels opening the doors to heaven."
~*~ There is ampther video of the same performance That is a bit better video quality But the audio is just a millisecond behind their movements So I finally decided to post this one If you would like to see the other video on YouTube Here is the link:
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