Beethoven - Symphony No. 7, Op. 92

Beethoven - Symphony No. 7, Op. 92

The year 1812 was a busy year for the well-known but deaf composer Ludwig van Beethoven. At last, Beethoven got the chance to meet that other famous German, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, but Goethe’s personality proved a disappointed to Beethoven. The composer was carrying on a hectic love life: in 1812 he wrote his famous letter to an anonymous ‘Unsterbliche Geliebte’ (‘Immortal Beloved’). Moreover, he was getting involved in the life of his younger brother, who was infatuated with a housekeeper. Yet despite his activities, Beethoven found the time to compose several new works, among which his Seventh Symphony. The piece was first performed in 1813, at a concert for the benefit of wounded soldiers; if ever an orchestra was an all-star ensemble, the orchestra that graced the stage that night certainly deserved that name: Louis Spohr was one of the violinists, and among the other orchestra players were Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Giacomo Meyerbeer and Antonio Salieri. Conductor: Claudio Abbado Performers: Berlin Philharmonic Location: Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome, 2001