Hélène Grimaud - Beethoven Choral Fantasy, Part 2 - Proms 08

[THEMUSICALDREAMER100]

Beethoven in times of joy. Glorious !

[Ulysse0201]

Une magnifique "promenade" dans l'univers beethovenien... Merci, Hélène ♥

[jeanpierre343]

Un vrai bonheur. Merci.

[Vaniarjsp]

Extraordinário

[nembutsu1]

Einfach großartig. Vielen Dank für die gemeinsame Nutzung

Danke

[DiesIstGrammarNazi]

To give you an idea of the standards of music at the time, this was poorly received at it's premier.

[bcarl83]

@DiesIstGrammarNazi To be fair, the piece was poorly received in no small part because of how badly the orchestra botched its performance, in part due to lack of rehearsal and poor instructions from Beethoven.

[MrFerminleon]

(We appreciate Wikipaedia's contributions in the descriptions on previous comment)

[Cadenzapan]

This piece has always been my favourate!

[arissss1962]

Absolutely divine and beautiful music.

Nowadays nr.1 worlds musican is Lady Gaga...

[MrFerminleon]

The Fantasia was first performed at the Akademie (benefit concert) of 22 December 1808, which also saw the premières of the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies as well as a performance of portion of the C major Mass. To conclude this memorable concert program, Beethoven wanted a "brilliant Finale" that would unite in a single piece the different musical elements highlighted in the concert night: piano solo, chorus and orchestra. Beethoven himself played the piano.

[DStrick2008]

@MrFerminleon Awesome story!

[Sword1479]

@MrFerminleon Too bad the orchestra had no time to rehearse it and it all fell apart in the middle...

[punedav007]

Moreover, Classical music has been with the world for 400 years, it would be interesting to see, in the year, 3000 or beyond, just how would Classical music continue. I know none of us would be alive by then, but seriously, how did classical music survive so long, while other popular music didn't? I wonder what answer this question might fetch.

[lindzyIsAwesome]

@punedav007 the answer is 0:00 to 8:27

[punedav007]

I just have one question, I know that none of the Beethoven family exist, But i would like to know, what happens to all the money that classical concerts earn? I mean, there is no Mozart, Beethoven or Bach to get this money in their hands to who gets it, and how much do they get it. What about the sale of CD's and DVD's? Is there a company or an institution who gets the money? Please answer if somebody knows about this question. Thanks for posting and GOD BLESS!

[UlfenDaddy]

@punedav007 The answer can be rather elaborate, but mostly has to do with (today) who has Edited, that is, compared the oldest published versions with known manuscripts, early copies and scores, and prepared the music for performance. As I learned (more than 35 years ago, it MAY be different today) there was a point that music and literary works went into "public domain," that is they're "free for all" to copy and perform at will. That used to be 99 years in most jurisdictions. Now, Wagner

[UlfenDaddy]

@punedav007 Con't: Wagner (for example) was very conscientious about Copyrights for his estate and Heirs, the Wagner family's hold on performance royalties on his work lasted a very long time. In a work such as standard Beethoven, Mozart and the like, what a "company" (orchestra, opera co, etc) has to pay for the use of materials is usually to RENT a full set of parts that were prepared according to the director's opinions about the accuracy of the music. Most orchestras can't keep full sets

[UlfenDaddy]

@punedav007 (Con't 3) of the whole repertoire; just think of the size of such a paper holding. If an orch wanted to not pay a pubisher for the use of their parts, anything in "public domain" can be copied, but they'd have ot GET someone to do it. I sure wouldn't hand-copy orch parts unless I was paid, and that would come to something about what a publisher would charge to rent. Where the money actually goes then supports the music industry, as backbone works like B'ven allow them to venture on

[UlfenDaddy]

@punedav007 (4) new and unknown composers and materials. Nobody knew for ex. if Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" would actually SELL; it's a cool work but it hasn't. Also w/ B'ven and other classics, there are sometimes variant versions, in his lifetime things were published with MISTAKES in them. Which publisher/editor one is follwing can make a Difference in what you hear and think is "right." Electronic copying is changing a lot of this; I think copyright law hasn't caught up yet. Information

[UlfenDaddy]

@UlfenDaddy Information, data, "input," whether books, technical material and MUSIC, just isn't "worth" what it once was before instantaneous and all but infinite copying "download" capacity. The ugly side of that is the old law of economics: with mass production of any commodity the cost AND THE QUALITY go Down. Compare "Choral Fantasy" with anything you care to mention written in 50 yrs or more, this is more than 200 years old, then convince yourself that music (and culture) is "evolving."

[StephenDeMille]

Beethoven rulez.

[Dirkktk]

HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD - The Emperor Concerto (Beethoven) HD

[noahmarconi1]

Oh! What power in Beethoven's music.

Beethoven = God 

[UlfenDaddy]

Sopranos of this calibre aren't able to dress themselves. The clothes (and Make-up, yegads!) are dreadful. Talented singers need rich, worshipful men to give them clothing, jewelry, attention and Handlers to help them put it all together. That's what Stylists are for. (If I had a million bucks I'd buy her a green dress, but not a real green dress, thats cruel.) The boys have it a lot easier: black slacks, a white Edwardian and a bowtie, hey go for it.

[UlfenDaddy]

@UlfenDaddy That lil' first tenor soloist needs to be taken to a tropical resort to sing Leider, model a Spandex brief and experiment with various forms of slick, slippery, silicone-based OINTMENTS...

[Helkost]

I liked Pollini / Abbado version the most. But this seems good too.

[cristianoventura]

Timpanist is a real lord. English style timpani

[UlfenDaddy]

@cristianoventura Isn't he great? People think B'ven stodgy, classical concerts these blown-out affairs. The young, stylish and hot-shot vocalists, this talented pianist and such a milieu for "Choral Fantasy" are asbolutely perfect. The tympanist puts it all right out there: ROCK IT, MAN!!! We forget, in 1808 this was just as over-the-top as anyone had ever seen, the effect was no less profound than Lady GaGa.

[cristianoventura]

@UlfenDaddy Yes, no doubt. I would like see this tympanist in the 2nd mvmt of 9th Symphony....

[UlfenDaddy]

@cristianoventura Indeed! Wouldn't that be cool?!?! I play in a rather good amateur orchestra (Viola,) and the congregation owns a 7+ foot Kawai grand and four beautifully-matched tympani. The player is quite young, early 20's, but a perfect kinda-stocky, scraggly-bearded TYMPANIST... very unassuming personally but is a real talent. Being somewhat skilled as a conductor-composer, I occasionally create new arrangements for the group; you can bet I take those resources into account, too!

[cristianoventura]

Timpanist is a real lord. English style tympani

[speedboy6776]

the 8th wonder of the world should be "how the hell did beethoven write this awesome music while deaf?"

[Malaka57]

@speedboy6776 Because he couldn't hear it...... :-)

[alexleungfw007]

Beerthoven is an immortal in our heart

[yolhanson]

Oh, she is fine. I could (ahem) listen to her all day.

On a slightly more genuine note, I found some of the tempos rather fast, especially the 3/4 bit in the middle. The tempo from the vocal entry to the end was good, though.

I always listen a little critically, as this is one of my favourite pieces of all time (and an underrated piece, I must say--hardly anyone outside of the serious classical world knows about it.)

[jackchrista]

Beethoven' ♥♥♥♥♥♥  .Ludwig Beethoven regarded Handel as the greatest composer./.......+ John & Christa

[vendeen932]

Œuvre superbe , magnifiquement interprétée!!! Bravo Hélène Grimaud!

[nathanstaph]

Amazing.

(If I were to be picky, however, I'd have to say that the choir looks a bit bored with the music they're singing. Though, they sound good.)

[ponselle27]

This recording reminds me of my old LP with Rudolph Serkin and Leonard Bernstein with the New York Phil of many years ago. It still is one of my treasures. The Choral Fantasy is rarely played and to me is one of Beethoven's masterpieces, as he was experimenting for the Ode to Joy.

[SatchmoSings]

@ViolinistTB I hope some "gang-banger" takes your violin and smashes it; then maybe you'll finally learn something!

[gjwr]

the idea that classical music can't pay for itself and therefore needs subsidies is quite thought-provoking actually

you could probably do a marxian treatment of it...or has someone already done one

[SatchmoSings]

@ViolinistTB I'm well aware of the use of both classical music and "Country & Western" (blacks view that as "lynching music") being played over loudspeakers to keep black people away or at least, to keep them actively disinterested; this is simply more racism on your part, especially when you repeatedly call them "gang-bangers;" you never fail to disappoint; you're the one that should leave.

[SatchmoSings]

@ViolinistTB Your racism is staggering; thank you for affirming all I've been saying.

[SatchmoSings]

@ViolinistTB Uh, Juilliard is IN New York City, genius.

[SatchmoSings]

@ViolinistTB I'm frankly not interested in what you see, because what you "see" is what you'd get charged with perjury with in a court of law.

Face it, this is music for (essentially) "Whites Only;" that's who writes it, performs it, listens to on the radio and in halls, and buys its recordings and ESPECIALLY advocates government subsidies for it, since unlike "Rap" it can't even pay for itself!

It's just some elitist vestigial "Thing" that Whites need to justify their existence with.

[abracadaverous]

@SatchmoSings I see where you're coming from, and when I watched this video, the white-washing of the hall bothered me too. But I also performed this a few weeks ago, and while there were a preponderance of white folks both onstage and in the audience, there were also quite a few featured Black, Latino and Asian performers as well. And I'm not just talking about a few scattered tokens.

Maybe there is active discrimination in certain classical communities, but trust me, it ain't just for whites.

[SatchmoSings]

@abracadaverous I'm glad you can see that it's virtually "whites only" at events such as this; in my community East Asians also at least show up when it's the free opera and/or symphony in the public parks; other minorities generally do not. (The other interesting thing that manifests itself this way in the public concerts is that there are VERY few police for crowd control.)

[SatchmoSings]

@abracadaverous 02. (I happen to view the lesser amount of police presence in the public parks for classical music concerts or a Shakespeare festival [vs. what would tend to draw "minorities"] as another form of discrimination.)

Until Classical music can draw audiences truly reflective of the communities it performs in, taxpayer subsidies should end; it's just not right for government to subsidize an "art" that is obviously discriminatory.

[SatchmoSings]

@ViolinistTB You are the one making the racist observation because the culture of a people dictates their racism which is precisely why everyone is so white, both on stage and in the audience, too, at these types of concerts; you are, once again affirming that blacks and even Muslims are tempermentally incapable of participating in this music, hence their exclusion.

[SatchmoSings]

@ViolinistTB I am not bigoted; look at the ethnic and racial makeup of large British cities and it's a lot more diverse than the musicians and audience; I'm not interested in your tokenisms especially your insistence that black people must be relegated to only rap.

[luziederschrecken]

Babe!

[kpkpdeyahoodee]

Best piece of Beethoven. Even better, while more intense, than 9th symphony.

[SatchmoSings]

@ViolinistTB The camera pans to the audience; plus I've had friends that have been to these concerts and have told me "who" (or what) makes up the audience and as far as who makes up the orchestra, that's pretty obvious unless you are blind.

Why don't black people bother to audition for this kind of music and/or "don't make the cut?" There are MANY black musicians in the UK; surely there can be room for them in a symphony orchestra!

Obviously there is no room for "multiculturalism" here!!!

[SugarTomAppleRoger]

Wonderful performance. I love Helene's playing. Roger Norrington must be given special mention. He is a really humble and nice person. I'm sure that's why Helene and these wonderful artists were delighted to help him out. It was a real treat to get such a recital on the Last Night, which I find often popularist.

[Scalatti]

Hear and listen to Evgeny Kissin, Claudio Abbado, the Berlin PO, and luxury soprano soloist Cheryl Studer, now on my channel. It's a live performance of the piece that I feel remains unmatched. Enjoy!

[grayboy432004]

Wow! What a great performance and she's gorgeous too!!

[ShawDAMAN]

as fine a live perf. of this as I have heard, great fidelity too for a live recording in a huge venue...

[Josicauc]

Soooooo beautiful. Thanks Rexeterna for posting this.

[lemonandp]

WOW never knew a beautiful piece of music could start a heated debate on racism by the way Jonathan Lemalu is a NZr of Samoan decent and is part of a wonderful group of fellow artists sharing their gift with others. Thanx for posting this clip. Love the solo pianist, the orchestral arrangement, the S.A.T.B, choir and last but not least the leader the Conductor.  PS and anyone else I missed LOL.

[SatchmoSings]

@lemonandp Nice to see a bit of tokenism with the Samoan dude in there!!!

[AletheiaAu]

Helene's a rough rider...starting from first part.

[snaebjorn53]

Bravo! I just love it! 5* every time.

[Telmexia]

¿En qué momento ecribió Beethoven tan hermosa música?

¿Qué fue primero, la novena sinfonía "coral", ó la "fantasía coral"?

Espero comentarios.

[HinojosaGuillermo]

la fantasía es muy anterior a la novena sinfonía. Sin embargo parece que ya la prefigura o anuncia.

[Tillyvalle]

Bravo Maestro!  I love this piece, it should be better known IMHO

[sprygeoffreya17]

I,....don't know if Beethoven wrote anything better than this. It's superb.

[SatchmoSings]

sprygeoffreya17--

While this is truly a great composition, I would suggest you try Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto.

Unlike so much of Beethoven's "Middle Period" this piece is much more "ruminative."

Try the 1942 recording with Artur Schnabel as soloist and Frederick Stock leading the Chicago Symph. Orchestra.

Schnabel truly "hits the mark" on this.

[suluksummuskulus]

@sprygeoffreya17 that is ignorant ;) you should read somewhere, when and how he actually composed this piece.

[TheWill1993iam]

@sprygeoffreya17 This song is pretty awesome! I was watching something on him the other day and apparently he wrote this as filler for his fifth symphony debut. Its hard to imagine as filler though! He must have been a genius to write this as filler!

[synthos999]

@sprygeoffreya17 his ninth :D

[Tenorgeiger]

@sprygeoffreya17 Believe me he wrote plenty of stuff that is better than this piece of froth!

[28jadufer]

SOBERBIA  INTERPRETACIÓN DE LA ORQUESTA , CORO Y PIANISTA. GRIMAUD, como siempre, sublime y energica .

[SatchmoSings]

This is something that celebrates traditional European culture, the same culture that made colonies and slaves of so much of the "brown" world.

This is why it fails the "multi-cultural test."

[oprachik]

its not celebrating traditional European culture, its a performance of a specific genre of music. it wasnt the culture that made colonies and slaves of the "brown" world it was ppl in history. HISTORY. if you look too much at the past and never at what happened after, what is happening now and what could happen in the future you will be forever stuck in a bitter and prejudiced mindset.

[SatchmoSings]

oprachik--

Look at the countries where this music is "acceptable" and where it is NOT.

Then look at who performs in this music and who attends these concerts.

I rest my case.

[vrk777]

@SatchmoSings

So liking jazz and blues which was developed by black people - slaves! - is just an other form of racism?

Music has no nationality. Culture is global.

Not all people can like the same music, just like they don't like the same colours on their clothes.

[SatchmoSings]

vrk777--

You're making the usual excuses for the failure of this concert to be a truly multi-cultural event.

[SatchmoSings]

oprachik--

I live in New York City a place that is supposed to be VERY multi-cultural.

Do you know what an "art house" is? It's a movie theater that shows "classic" and foreign films.

And the audience for such places? ONLY WHITES!!!!

And what about "Shakespeare In The Park" which is paid for BY TAXPAYER DOLLARS and some corporate sponsors.

These are THE SAME corporations that have discriminated for DECADES!

And you call me "prejudiced."

Hmph!!

[swanningaround]

@SatchmoSings. Not true. If you go to the proms, you just have to put your name down on the list when you get there. About an hour before the concert starts, people are called out according to their position on the list. It has nothing to do with "black and white" etc. Anyway, in this concert, Johnaton LeMalu, a soloist here, is a Maori guy. Also, Roger Norrington is a great guy, and does not have a racist bone in his body.

[SatchmoSings]

swanningaround--

So we see who it is that "chooses" to go to these concerts.

Also, I don't need for you to point out some "tokenism" in regards to this music.

So what if Norrington is a "great guy."

He participates in something that only generates enthusiasm from white people.

[swanningaround]

@SatchmoSings. What are you saying about "tokenism". Johnathon is there not because he is a token, but because he is a great singer. Roger Norrington also does not want to "generate enthusiam from white people". He wants to generate enthusiam from all people. Beethoven is for the enjoyment of everyone, not just white people.

If certain black people do not like classical music, then that is their choice. If you can find a way to get them to enjoy it, that would be great too.

[SatchmoSings]

@swanningaround "Find a way to get them to enjoy it."

That was pretty "White Man's Burden;" you obviously don't think so.

[swanningaround]

@SatchmoSings Not really. There is no tokenism. There are many many black singers, many with immense talent. A personal favorite of mine is Leontyne Price.

Jonathan Lemalu whom you mention won the Mobil Song Contest, the top prize in NZ. He is of Samoan descent, but a New Zealander of whom we are very proud. Anna Leese in this clip is also from NZ. Hélène Grimaud is a lovely person also who loves animals.

Honestly, you should be proud of black peoples' contribution to opera and music.

[sprygeoffreya17]

satchmo sings - Is the audience you speak of only white because only whites show up ! Are non-whites stopped at the door and refused entry ? Sometimes a group segregates itself, as in oklahoma, where I live; monster truck rallies are for anyone and everyone, but the audience without exception is composed entirely of morons - birds of a feather !

[SatchmoSings]

sprygeoffreya17--

Look, let me say this about monster truck rallies and their audience.

There is, or was a cable tv station called "The Nashville channel;" it NEVER showed black people, not even in commercials.

By the same token, BET (Black Entertainment Television) would show white people.

Also, some restaurants, to discourage black patronage, will play Country & Western music over their loudspeakers.

I rest my case!!!

[spepper]

@SatchmoSings GOOD, NOW SHUT UP! You're poisoning this beautiful video with your stupid rants.

[SatchmoSings]

@spepper I haven't made a post here in months; you're the one that is the bigoted elitist with your ideas of exclusionism.

[SatchmoSings]

sprygeoffreya17--

You're not too "with the program."

When black people or other non-whites self-segregate, that's okay and even to be encouraged.

When white people self-segregate, such as gatherings as the one here, that is discriminatory.

Whites have the burden/onus of showing how muliticultural they can be and classical music obviously fails the "smell test."

[sprygeoffreya17]

@SatchmoSings Wait ??? When non-whites self-segregate it's racism; when non-whites do it it's to be encouraged ??!!?? Satchmo, YOU are a racist !! How does it feel ? Like most racists, you do not even know what you're doing is wrong ! That's why racism persists ! And, just because a restaurant somewhere discourages nonm- white patronge is not proof, or even evidence that a music hall in N.Y. must be doing it, too! Your mind's been poisoned by racism, your own.

[SatchmoSings]

Why is the orchestra all white?

It's DISCRIMINATION!

[vrk777]

@SatchmoSings

Probably because the concert is in the UK, where MOST of the people are white. Did that occur to you?

[SatchmoSings]

vrk777--

When I watch the musicians in a rap concert, they're not white and the orchestra and chorus are so much larger.

Surely there could be "room" for some non-white people.

[RIV2]

you're her mother? What your problem it's sexy?

[sprygeoffreya17]

Re: The verses to Beethoven's choral fanatasy, do you know, did he or a libretist write the words? If He did, He is also, in my opinion, an exalted poet as well!

[snaebjorn53]

Sprygeoffreya17. Fantasia op 80, one of my favourite choral pieces. I believe Ludwig asked Austrian poet Christoph Kuffner to write the text for the finale. Beautiful isnt it?

[sprygeoffreya17]

@snaebjorn53 Sorry I'm so late responding to your kind response to my request re: choral fantasy lyrics, thank you - yes, the words are gorgeous

[snaebjorn53]

@sprygeoffreya17

You are very welcome. I never tire of it.

Take care

[Lysander910]

I will be singing this in Salzburg next week. I am a guest singer with a chorus that's in the Salzburg Music Festival. This vid definitely helped me practice.  Thanks for posting. An excellent performance of an excellent piece!

[Tillyvalle]

Wonderful! I love this piece - love Beethoven! Thanks for posting

[Mozeroscar]

leve ¬¬

[RIV2]

I prefer Kissin version! But it is good also.

[ichuang27]

I believe this is the most beautiful classical music in this world!

[swanningaround]

ichuang. Others to listen to if you like this are Christ on the Mount of Olives, the Triple Concerto and Fidelio. All have certain similarites to this.

[swanningaround]

Helene must be getting rather good at playing this piece. It seems to be her favorite. her love of music and wolves is obvious. She is a great artiste, and this is great music. The singing is wonderful too.

[PrincePeterofPomona]

Magnifique! Helene's beauty and brilliance at the keyboard at the Last Night of the Proms was a pleasure to behold! BBC Radio provided live worldwide radio broadcasting of Helene's wonderful performance and of all the Last Night of the Proms performances as well!

[dondonp12004]

Awesome! I've heard that piece in a series of commercials for what was once known as Dean Witter Reynolds and is now known as Morgan Stanley.