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Kind of an FYI, and really just an excuse to post good music:
Beethoven's 9th Symphony is pretty well regarded as one of the best and most iconic pieces of music ever written (when he was deaf, no less).
Having said that, Jaap van Zweden (director of the Dallas Symphony for the last decade), is leaving after this year to go to the New York Philharmonic. He decided to go out with a bang and their 2017-2018 schedule has been his favorite pieces (they're performing all 3 hours of Wagner's "Die Walküre" opera next weekend).
And for his finale, at one of the top symphony halls in the world (#10 on this list), the DSO will be performing Beethoven's 9th at the end of the month.
Minimum price for what's left is $148 up in the top, and there's a single pair of orchestra level on Craigslist for $300.
Beethoven's 9th Symphony is pretty well regarded as one of the best and most iconic pieces of music ever written (when he was deaf, no less).
The Ninth Symphony was written by a deaf composer who hadn’t worked in the genre in a decade, and whose music had fallen out of fashion in favor of Italian opera. Getting it performed was an extraordinary ordeal; it made hardly any money for the already cash-strapped composer, and in any case, he couldn’t hear a note. Beethoven had little to gain from writing it or supervising its performance, other than the measly commissioning fee of £50 from the London Philharmonic Society. Those facts, plus the work’s subject matter, lead only to one inescapable conclusion: that it was written, quite simply, out of a profound love for humanity that is the very best of who we are as a species.
And for his finale, at one of the top symphony halls in the world (#10 on this list), the DSO will be performing Beethoven's 9th at the end of the month.
Minimum price for what's left is $148 up in the top, and there's a single pair of orchestra level on Craigslist for $300.
The Ninth Symphony, involving a massive orchestra, chorus and soloists, was first performed on May 7, 1824. Despite his deafness, Beethoven insisted on conducting the piece himself.
At the end, the audience applauded wildly, but Beethoven was unaware until one of the soloists “plucked him by the sleeve and directed his attention to the clapping hands and waving hats and handkerchiefs…then he turned to the audience and bowed.”
At the end, the audience applauded wildly, but Beethoven was unaware until one of the soloists “plucked him by the sleeve and directed his attention to the clapping hands and waving hats and handkerchiefs…then he turned to the audience and bowed.”
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