"Filmed, Written and Directed by Phil Grabsky" "Narrated by Juliet Stevenson" "Opus 133" " Grosse Fuge for String Quartet, written 1825-6" "Performed by the Endellion String Quartet" "RONALD BRAUTIGAM pianist" "12 Piano Sonatas by Christian Gottlob Neefe, 1773" "ROGER NORRINGTON conductor" "BAYAN NORTHCOTT writer and composer" "Bonn was the place where Beethoven's character was formed." "This childhood in Bonn was very influential." "ILONA SCHMIEL historian" "He grew up hearing extremely well-played music." "Beethoven was not from the aristocracy." "His surname was 'van' Beethoven, the family originally came from Belgium, and it wasn't the aristocratic 'von'." "But he was fortunate to become friends with local aristocratic families" "CHRISTINE KONDGEN guide, Beethoven Haus such as the Wegelers and von Breunings." "Madame von Breuning employed the young Beethoven as a piano teacher for her children." "The contact with these families was to be very useful for him." "Through them he learnt Latin, French and courtly etiquette." "He also read contemporary literature with his friends." "CLIFF EISEN historian" "Cantata on the death of Emperor Joseph ll" "Performed by the Corydon Orchestra  Singers conducted by Matthew Best" "BAYAN NORTHCOTT writer and composer" "CLIFF EISEN historian" "Opus 19 - Piano Concerto no. 2" "Performed by Jonathan Biss theSalzburgCamerata" "Conducted by Roger Norrington" "JONATHAN BISS pianist" "Opus 15 - Piano Concerto no. 1" "Performed by Lars Vogt theCityof Birmingham Symphony Orchestra" "Conducted by Simon Rattle" "ROGER NORRINGTON conductor" "If we could make a list of the greatest drinking composers in history," "Beethoven would be near the top." "Almost every day he went out to dinner." "GIOVANNI BIETTI musicologist" "Many of his letters talk about where to eat and drink well," "Here the wine isn't good anymore." "There the food is improving." "KRISTIAN BEZUIDENHOUT pianist" "Opus 1 no. 1 - Piano Trio" "Performed by Julia Fedoseeva, Richard Harwood AlexanderSitkovetsky" "Opus 2 - Three Piano Sonatas" "Performed by Ronald Brautigam" "GIOVANNI BIETTI musicologist" "EMANUEL AX pianist" "ALBAN GERHARDT cellist" "Opus 5 no. 2 - Cello Sonata" "Performed by Alban Gerhardt CecileLicad" "Opus 10 no. 2 - Piano Sonata no. 6" "Performed by Ronald Brautigam" "Opus 18 no. 6 - String Quartet" "Performed by the Endellion String Quartet" "DAVID WATERMAN cellist" "GIANANDREA NOSEDA conductor" "RICCARDO CHAILLY conductor" "Opus 21 - First Symphony" "Performed by the Orchestra of the 18th Century" "Conducted by Frans Bruggen" "Opus 24 - Violin Sonata ['Spring']" "Performed by Julia Fedoseeva AlexanderSitkovetsky" "Opus 27 no. 2 - Piano Sonata no. 14 ['Moonlight']" "Performed by Lars Vogt" "LARS VOGT pianist" "HEBE JEFFREY musicologist  guide" "Opus 47 - Violin Sonata ['Kreutzer']" "Performed by Itamar Golan JanineJansen" "JANINE JANSEN violinist" ""tumultuous"" "Opus 37 - Piano Concerto no. 3" "Performed by Kristian Bezuidenhout theOrchestraof the18thCentury" "Conducted by Frans Bruggen" "Opus 55 - Third Symphony ['Eroica']" "Written 1803, first performance 7 April, 1805" "Performed by the Filarmonica della Scala" "Conducted by Gianandrea Noseda" "JONATHAN DEL MAR Beethoven scholar and editor" "GIANANDREA NOSEDA conductor" "facsimile" "NICHOLAS MARSTON historian" "Opus 53 - Piano Sonata no. 21 ['Waldstein']" "EMANUEL AX pianist" "Opus 57 - Piano Sonata no. 23 ['Appassionata']" "HEBE JEFFREY musicologist  guide" "Opus 56 - Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin  Cello" "Performed by Boris Berezovsky, Urban Svensson, Mats Rondin theSwedishChamberOrchestra" "Conducted by Thomas Dausgaard" "Opus 72 - Leonore [renamed 'Fidelio']" "Performed by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra" "Conducted by Claudio Abbado" "I think Fidelio is a very simple story." "It's a so-called rescue story." "chris KRAUS opera  film director" "A woman is in despair, her husband is in prison and she wants to free him." "She enters the prison and remains undiscovered for two years dressed as a man." "She finds her husband and sets him free." "In doing so, she conquers the evil antagonist Pizarro." "In the end, not only does she win, but everything is resolved in happiness and freedom." "ALBERT DOHMEN bass - 'Don Pizarro'" "Ha, the time has come!" "I can take my revenge!" "Now the tables are turned and I can slay my tormentor!" "Ha, the time has come!" "I can take my revenge!" "Your fate is calling you!" "Triumph!" "Victory is mine!" "I think that the inner despair that this composer felt is perhaps an expression of his lack of compromise." "He doesn't care if an aria can be sung or not, that's just the way it has to be." "Oh, what joy to breathe again in the open air" "EMANUEL AX pianist" "Beethoven was full of contradictions." "He was intolerable." "He was described as a dark character with a dark personality." "He was bad tempered, he hated crowds." "There's no long-term love-interest." "Above all he was ill." "He was ill his whole life." "And naturally a sick man, who suffers from the fact that he's ill, wishes for nothing greater than to be healthy." "To me, it's self-evident in the only opera he completed, this was a dream and an ideal." "He wanted to be healthy, and he wanted the world to be healthy." "Is there light in my tomb?" "I see an angel in the rosy haze who has come to help me" "An angel like Leonore" "All who have a beloved wife join us in jubilation" "No praise is high enough for a woman who has saved the life of her husband" "It is clear that Beethoven chose a piece of propaganda, an apotheosis to freedom, a fantasy of happiness, a dream." "Actually, this opera is a dream." "This illusion that human progress leads to ever greater happiness, which is very difficult to believe these days." "However, Beethoven wanted to express the great hopes of these times which brought about the French Revolution, that everything will be beautiful, good and better." "BARRY COOPER historian" "ROGER NORRINGTON conductor" "Opus 60 - Fourth Symphony" "Performed by the Norrkopping Symphony Orchestra" "Conducted by Andrew Parrott" "GlANANDREA NOSEDA conductor" "louis LANGREE conductor" "Opus 61 - Violin Concerto" "Performed by Vadim Repin I'OrchestreNational du Capitole de Toulouse" "Conducted by Tugan Sokhiev" "VADIM REPIN violinist" "Although Beethoven was the pre-eminent composer and pianist in Vienna then," "ILONA SCHMIEL historian he was unable to marry any of the women he fell in love with." "It was simply impossible for him to overcome the class barriers." "He always sought out women from the aristocracy, and it was impossible in those days to move up the social ladder." "Opus 59 no. 2 - String Quartet ['Razumovsky']" "Performed by the Endellion String Quartet" "DAVID WATERMAN cellist" "CLIFF EISEN historian" "JONATHAN DEL MAR Beethoven scholar and editor" "Opus 62 - Overture 'Coriolan'" "Performed by the Gewandhaus Orchestra" "Conducted by Riccardo Chailly" "Opus 69 - Cello Sonata" "Performed by Richard Harwood ChristophBerner" "LOUIS LANGREE conductor" "CLIFF EISEN historian" "Opus 68 - Sixth Symphony ['Pastoral']" "Performed by the Orchestra of the 18th Century" "Conducted by Frans Bruggen" "Opus 58 - Piano Concerto no. 4" "Performed by Kristian Bezuidenhout theOrchestraof the18thCentury" "Conducted by Frans Bruggen" "KRISTIAN BEZUIDENHOUT pianist" "Performed by Ronald Brautigam theNorrkoppingSymphonyOrchestra" "Conducted by Andrew Parrott" "RONALD BRAUTIGAM pianist" "HELENE GRIMAUD pianist" "Performed by Helene Grimaud I'OrchestredeParis" "Conducted by Christoph Eschenbach" "GIANANDREA NOSEDA conductor" "ROGER NORRINGTON conductor" "Opus 67 - Fifth Symphony" "Performed by the Orchestra of the 18th Century" "Conducted by Frans Bruggen" "JONATHAN DEL MAR Beethoven scholar and editor" "Opus 73 - Piano Concerto no. 5 ['Emperor']" "Performed by Helene Grimaud theStaatskapelleDresden" "Conducted by Vladimir Jurowski" "HELENE GRIMAUD pianist" "BARRY COOPER historian" "Opus 81 a - Piano Sonata no. 26 ['Das Lebewohl']" "Performed by Ronald Brautigam" "CLIFF EISEN historian" "Opus 74 - String Quartet ['Harp']" "Performed by the Endellion String Quartet" "RONALD BRAUTIGAM pianist" "BAYAN NORTHCOTT writer and composer" "Opus 91 - Wellington's Sieg ['Battle Symphony']" "Performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker" "Conducted by Herbert von Karajan" "Opus 92 - Seventh Symphony" "Performed by the Gewandhaus Orchestra" "Conducted by Riccardo Chailly" "Opus 93 - Eighth Symphony" "Performed by l'Orchestre National de France" "Conducted by Kurt Masur" "Opus 46 - Song: 'Adelaide'" "Performed by Christian Gerhaher GeroldHuber" "Your friend wanders alone in the garden of spring" "Gently bathed in lovely magical light" "Which shimmers through the swaying branches of flowers" "Adelaide!" "Opus 102 no. 1 - Cello Sonata" "Performed by Julia Fedoseeva RichardHarwood" "Opus 101 - Piano Sonata no. 28" "Performed by Helene Grimaud" "HELENE GRIMAUD pianist" "Opus 98 - Song Cycle:" "'An die ferne Geliebte'" "Performed by Christian Gerhaher GeroldHuber" "Where the mountains so blue" "Out of the foggy grey" "Look down" "Where the sun dies" "Where the cloud encircles" "I wish I was there!" "There in the restful valley" "Stilled are suffering and sorrow" "Where in the rock" "Quietly the primrose meditates" "Blows so lightly in the wind" "I wish I was there!" "BAYAN NORTHCOTT writer and composer" "JONATHAN DEL MAR Beethoven scholar and editor" "Performed by the Endellion String Quartet H33, Minuet" "nicholas MARSTON historian" "Opus 110 - Piano Sonata no. 31" "PAUL lewis pianist" "LEIF OVE ANDSNES pianist" "Opus 11 1 - Piano Sonata no. 32" "LARS VOGT pianist" "Opus 123 - Mass 'Missa Solemnis'" "Performed by the Wiener Symphoniker  Singverein der Gesellschaftder Musikfreunde" "Conducted by Fabio Luisi" "It's the longest piece apart from his opera." "He wanted to write something important." "A part of him perhaps wanted to leave a legacy for future generations." "Beethoven was not a practising Catholic." "He had a concept of God within himself." "FABlO LUlSl conductor" "He was someone who thought hard about it and who actively searched for the deity." "BARRY COOPER historian" "The Benedictus is the central point of many masses or requiems, because it's when the deity appears to us." "In this Benedictus, we have an additional surprise." "The Holy Spirit, as part of the Trinity, is represented by the violin." "We know the Father and the Son, but the Holy Spirit is something intangible." "It is something which floats above everything, and hence, so does the violin at this point, floating above soloists, chorus and orchestra." "I have two impressions of Beethoven." "A large brain and an equally large heart." "These two elements often fight against each other, but frequently they love each other, too." "There is so much love, so much empathy, and ability to endure suffering." "All this comes from his heart." "Opus 125 - Ninth Symphony ['Choral']" "Performed by the Orchestra of the 18th Century theOrfeoCatala" "Conducted by Frans Bruggen" "GlANANDREA NOSEDA conductor" "ROGER NORRINGTON conductor" "cliff ElSEN historian" "Friends!" "Not these sounds!" "Let us play something more pleasing!" "And more joyful!" "Joy!" "Joy, O bright spark of divinity Daughter of Elysium" "Drunk with ardour now we approach, Heavenly one, your holy shrine" "Your magic re-unites what custom harshly separated" "All men shall be brothers There, where your gentle wings rest" "JONATHAN DEL MAR Beethoven scholar and editor" "O you millions, be embraced!" "This kiss is for the whole world!" "Brothers" "Above the firmament" "A loving Father surely dwells" "LOUIS LANGREE conductor" "Joy!" "O bright spark of divinity" "Opus 131 - String Quartet" "Performed by the Endellion String Quartet" "DAVID WATERMAN cellist" "Opus 133 - String Quartet:" "'Grosse Fuge'" "Performed by the Endellion String Quartet"