Immortal Beloved

This movie is kind of like the Beethoven version of Amadeus. That was a movie that I found overbearing and shrill. I saw it once because of the buzz about it but I more or less simply “got through it” rather than had a cinematic rapture.

But Beethoven (so far as I would know) was not the annoying man-child played by Tom Hulce in Amadeus. He was German of questionable morals and of a harsh temperament. But he had his reasons, or at least his excuses. His alcoholic father used to beat him regularly.

Mr. Kung has no idea at this point where I’m going to go in my review. I will say that this was not a great movie but it was excellent film making. The story was so-so. The subject matter, and the skill in approaching it, was superb.

I think Gary Oldman gave it his all. But at the end of the day, he seems somewhat ill-suited for the part. On the other hand, Jeroen Krabbé is excellent as Ludwig’s trusted aid and secretary.

Also, the whole “Immortal Beloved” aspect was never sold. Again, like Mr. Kung, I don’t want to give anything away. But what was supposed to be the culmination of the movie seemed like an anticlimax.

Another superb element is the soundtrack as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. These guys are not hacks, even given what little I know about classical music.

In the film, they played a superb rendition of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” which one could argue was the best moment in the film As one character said near the end, “After hearing (Symphony No. 9 “Choral”), I could not hate a man who could write that.” I got the bug to hear “Moonlight Sonata” again so I stopped the film and found a few versions of it on Apple Music. They all sounded dull and uninspired compared to the one in the movie. (And, I’m guessing, that was exactly the cause of them being inferior.)

It’s the same with this movie. Despite the rough spots, it’s hard to hate the movie when presented with that soundtrack. There’s also an excellent moment where Ludwig plays one of his most recognizable pieces on the piano when he thinks no one is watching.

The whole gist of the movie is the search by his secretary to find the woman (presumably) that Beethoven considered his “Immortal Beloved” and left all his worldly possessions to. The secretary, thinking that he and Ludwig’s friends had failed him, vowed to fulfill this last wish no matter what it takes. And it takes him traveling all over following the trail of the various women in Ludwig’s life.

So we go on a journey that more or less jumps from woman to woman. As a structure for a film about one of the greatest composers of all time, it seems a somewhat stale technique. It becomes even more frustrating because all the best parts of the film have nothing to do with the women in his life (at least directly) and everything to do with his music and his inspiration for it. In the film, Ludwig is quoted as saying something like, “As a listener, you become hypnotized by the music, gaining from it the experiences I had that went into writing it.” That’s a rough paraphrase.

Now I can see why I never particularly liked Beethoven’s music. It is dreary, angry, and oppressive. And that’s how Ludwig comes across much of the time. And yet one wonders, after watching this, if he would have written such powerful stuff without that regular beating given by his father. Beethoven is a somewhat broken and embittered individual who finds transcendence in his music. His music expresses the agony of his being (entirely exacerbated by his growing deafness). But Beethoven is also able to express rapture in music like few others. So it’s highs and lows, sort of the manic-depressive of great classical composers.

His life seemed lived like your typical artist: a morally dubious one. And in the case of Beethoven, it seems a case of “Whom the gods would destroy, they first give great talent.” His music expresses great drama because he himself couldn’t seem to live without it.

Despite my misgivings about some of the elements, the treatment is serious, ambitious, and generally is pulled off well despite the difficulty of jumping about in time. Again, the strongest element in the film is Jeroen Krabbé as Beethoven’s secretary (and presumably his executor as well). And it is his secretary who is able to tie these disparate elements together — along with that superb soundtrack.

Interesting linkage to A Clockwork Orange.

The movie certainly has me listening to more Beethoven at the moment. And it has me wanting to know more.

From reading some other reviews of this movie at IMDB, I get the impression that this is not a particularly historically accurate film. But then, it does seem to present itself more as a dramatization than a biography.

That said, the reviews for the written biography, Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph, are pretty good.

Another good option may be Lewis Lockwood’s Beethoven: The Music and the Life which apparently places more emphasis on the music than on the salacious stories.

Boom-Boom Huppmann can really play the piano. Those others are marvelous as well.

Apple Music has Boom-Boom’s Chopin & Liszt: Piano Works. It also has a couple EPs of her doing Beethoven piano sonatas. Each has 3 tracks:

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E-Major, Op. 109

Beethoven: Appassionata Piano Sonata Op. 57 in F Minor

If you’re into Chopin, she as a Live in Australia album.

Mr. Flu, having started us down this Beethoven journey, will want to know that I watched Concerto: A Beethoven Journey on Amazon Prime.

This features Leif Ove Andsnes as the world-class pianist. Some viewers (I was one for a while) may be put off by how much this is about Leif, seemingly using Ludwig as an excuse for face time.

But in the end, if you stay with it, you’ll indeed see it is about Leif. But you do gain, through Leif, more appreciation for Ludwig.

One of the chicks he does a duet with (and it’s only a short piece in the video) is violinist Vilde Frang. I mention this because I searched out one of her albums, Violin Sonatas. I was very pleased with the three tracks by Edvard Grieg.

Who is Edvard Grieg? I admit to having never heard of him, or at least his name didn’t ring a strong bell. But his 3 tracks (Sonata in F Major) are exquisite.

And then the album movies onto Béla Bartók whose music is, by comparison, fingernails across the blackboard. But the point is, there is a lot to be discovered amongst the old masters. Also, do not be a slave to name and reputation. I’m sure Bartók has some good stuff. But I couldn’t make it through even the opening of two of the tracks I listened to. I’ve heard more pleasing cat fights.

So anyway, whatever his feigned humility on screen, Leif is certainly a fan of Beethoven. He spent four years concentrating on his music which included touring the world playing concerts. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t seriously think that a guy need be humble, and clearly the best virtuosos are living in a stratosphere unknown to most. It’s hard to be humble when you are so brilliant.

But Leif does have many interesting insights on the music which you can take seriously because, A) He’s good at playing it; B) The music obvious deeply effects him. And whatever the reality of Beethoven the person is, Leif was extremely sympathetic to him and was seeing, as best anyone could, the music through the composer's eyes.

They have his Beethoven Journey on Apple Music, so I’ll make my way through the five Beethoven Piano Concertos.

Geez. After 19 minutes, that chick is still playing the piano splendidly. I couldn't golf that long...if I could golf.

That’s pretty amazing. It takes me a while to read the instructions on the cereal box in order to open the package.

Leif noted something about Beethoven that put him into the “special skill” category. I can’t say I understand the difficulty of it. But he sat down to play his piano concerto and the piano was such that he had to transpose the music to a lower key. Leif noted that he did this on-the-fly.

Yeah, there’s just another level of existence when you can read music like Liszt and Mozart. It must be very hard to keep your head out of the clouds.

I’m halfway into In Search of Haydn. I’m not finding it nearly as interesting as In Search of Beethoven.

But other than dalliances with a string of mistresses, Haydn was apparently a nice guy. One of those interviewed said he was polite, honest, and kind….or something like that. Let’s just say he was neither Beethoven or Mozart. Haydn was ordered, apparently not particularly arrogant, and thoughtful of his other musicians.

I dare to say that he was quite “normal” despite his exultant talent and fame. And apparently he considered himself a “country boy made good” and felt camaraderie for the average Joe (or Joseph). It’s said the symphonies he wrote in and for London were not meant just for the upper crust, that his music was approachable by all.

I don’t know if that’s true. But that’s what they said in this program. But it seems clear this guy wasn’t your usual prima donna flake.

Well, how cool is that?

Here’s a Google Map view of Esterházy Palace where Haydn spent much of his time. In the program I’m watching, it mentioned that one year they had 50 performances — presumably in what is now known as The Haydnsaal. That’s about one a week.



Later in the program it mentioned that they were doing something like 125 a year. That’s over two performances a week. That must have kept Haydn busy. That is one grand concert hall. And Wiki says: “Today it ranks among the most beautiful and acoustically perfect concert halls of the world.” So it looks good and it is functional.

Let us fly over tomorrow and take in a concert in the Haydnsaal.

Didn’t Beethoven write a symphony about that? It was very moody and powerful.

That Tchaikovsky piece: I would rate that more as “dramatic” than Heavy. It’s practically a toothpaste commercial compared to Mahler’s #5 symphony.

Here’s the Lucerne Festival Orchestra doing it:



Besides, I find that Tchaikovsky had a certain style that was more musical, no matter what he was doing. He’s certainly not my favorite — probably because he is a little Heavy.

I loved the guy playing that bassoon (I think it was a bassoon) solo. No room to hide in an orchestra, not that any of them could actually hide from a good conductor. But he had no pitch correction. No electronic filters. No double or triple over-dub. It was just him blowing on the instrument and creating a perfect note that was gracefully declining in volume.

Much is made of Mahler's later symphonies, but to my taste his First Symphony is his finest. It doesn't give way to the vocalizing that even if you know German can be ponderous. Many of the themes in the 1st are related to Das Lied von der Erde, (song of the earth) IMHO the 1st is the summation of the classical age. Mahler brings the Romanism of the late 19th century and intertwines it with the contrapuntalism of the German 18th century. For many composer this does not work and even Mahler has trouble trying to perfect it in the rest of his symphonies.