Word: beethoven
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...occurred to me on the way home from Symphony last Tuesday that the rosy glow I felt did not result from the evening as a whole, but was generated by the Finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Then again, since the Glee Club and Choral Society's participation in this particular movement was my excuse for going, I was glad it turned out well...
...Tuesday's performance sounded. No one loves the depth and richness of a large subdued string section better than I do; but the winds sounded puny in all those strings, even when Leinsdorf held them back. This situation, plus Leinsdorf's apparent desire not to spoil the Beethoven by making the Wagner too exciting, yielded a performance that was competent, well-played, and dull: The work deserves better treatment...
...album, made at a Library of Congress recital in 1940, is one of the few recordings that survive to attest to Bartok's virtuosity as a performer, long eclipsed by his fame as a composer. With Master Violinist Joseph Szigeti, Bartok gives a bold and dramatic rendition of Beethoven's "Kreutzer" Sonata and plays the Debussy Sonata for Violin and Piano lightly and brightly. The most striking performance, however, is the two Hungarians' demonic, clangorous attack on Bartok's own fierce and fantastic Second Sonata...
...BEETHOVEN: THE COMPLETE VIOLIN AND PIANO SONATAS (4 LPs; Columbia). Released separately over the past few years, these performances by Violinist Zino Francescatti and Pianist Robert Casadesus are now complete. The earlier sonatas are especially fine, for the French artists are marvelously attuned to the lyricism, elfin wit, and inventive refinements of the young Beethoven. Other violinists may play the works more romantically (David Oistrakh on Philips) or more brilliantly (Jascha Heifetz on RCA Victor), but their pianists do not always live up to them, and the understanding partnership of the two virtuosos in the new series is rewarding...
...fact, the Beatles have no respect for anything, not for Beethoven or for James Bond. Roger the tiger responds favorably only to the chorale from Beethoven's Ninth, so when Ringo is trapped with Roger, Lennon yells, "Ringo, sing famous Beethoven's famous Ninth Symphony." Bond's deadly Aston-Martin becomes a Mr. Whippy truck that leaves a trail of thumbtacks, and Alligator's camouflaged House of Parliament--a parody of a parody--becomes the Kaili's sacrificial temple, brought from the Orient to Bermuda...