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Da Da Da DUMMMMMM

Beethoven’s 9th Symphony premiered in Vienna on this day 1824, his last symphony.
The hall was packed. Beethoven himself conducted, rather dramatically, stretching to his full height, then crouching down to the floor, flailing his hands and feet. He was deaf and so he was several measures off. A man named Louis Duport stood off to the side and actually conducted the orchestra. Beethoven got five standing ovations.
The 9th is the peak of the symphonic art. No one ever surpassed it. It irritates the hell out of me to pull out the last movement and pretend it is something else. Also, movement 2 is the theme for the Huntley-Brinkley report for all you old fogies who were around in the 60's.
This is my all time favorite recording (I think I have three or four total). It is a great conductor, conducting a great orchestra at the top of its form, and it is the only recording that performs the symphony exactly as Beethoven wrote it, including all the repeats.
YOUTUBE.COM
Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 - Mvmt I
Released on Decca Records, this is Sir Georg Solti conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Symphony No. 9 in D Minor - Mvmt I, composed by…

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