BEETHOVEN, L. van: Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 (Bernstein)
Orchestra:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor:
Bernstein, Leonard
Composer:
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92
Date of Concert: 1978
Playing Time: 00:42:37
Television Director:
Burton, Humphrey
Producer:
Hohlfeld, Horant
Catalogue Number: A05500651
The first performance of this work in 1813 was a spectacular event. The long awaited Seventh was completed in May 1812 when the Austrian capital was recovering from the French occupation. The defeat of Napoleon's armies made the concert an occasion for celebration, and this historical event helped ensure the work's enormous popularity and the composer's lasting fame. The Seventh Symphony is one of the best examples of how Beethoven used simple harmonies and filled them with energetic, repetitive rhythms, which never become monotonous because of the fresh harmonic progressions that accompany them.
This recording is part of Bernstein's complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra live in Vienna. The series won the Ace Award, the U.S. Cable TV Association's top award for outstanding quality and entertainment value. Bernstein’s impassioned renderings of Beethoven move audiences in a unique way. "Beethoven has always meant universality to me, ever since my early adolescence, when I first heard that unforgettable cry of 'Brüder!'. From that moment on, every symphony came to mean heart-to-heart communication, travelling satellite-fashion via the cosmos itself. I offer [this cycle] to all music-loving ears as a testament of faith and of my most profound reactions to this greatest of all composers." (Leonard Bernstein, 1980)
