246 years old today! Spring chicken
I love Beethoven. My favorite works are:
Piano Sonata No 20, Opus 49 written to be easy to play for his less experienced students, but it's really catchy. My daughter has promised to learn to play it for me, but she is playing less now. When the kids were young I threatened to buy cars for any of them who can competently play any complete Beethoven Piano Sonata of their choice, still no takers from the spoiled brats.
Violin Concerto, Opus 61. He only wrote one, but it is awesome. My favorite version is Anne Sophie Mutter, with Van Karajan, Berlin Phil. This CD also has one of my other favorites, the Triple Concerto, same orch and cond, with cello played by young Yo Yo Ma.
String Quartet in F major, opus 135, his last major work as he died soon after it was completed. In testament to the significance of this work I once witnessed a room full of chatty audiophiles suddenly go mute and listen when the last movement of this began to play. A true miracle!
Symphony No. 9, Opus 125. Many people consider this his greatest work. I think he reaches the highest compositional altitude of his career during the instrumental passage in the final movement, right before the final choral explosion.
Back in 2006 when I just started in this hobby, I had a pair of Legacy Focus 2020 speakers. The Legacy dealer called to ask if a potential customer could come to my house (right now) to give them a listen. He turned out to be a huge Beethoven lover/expert/snob. He initiated me into the importance of Beethoven and got me going. He recommended the soundtrack from the movie "Dearly Beloved" which I bought, then quickly dove in head first with many other Beethoven recordings. Nothing lifts my spirits higher or faster than listening to Beethoven.
