Mozart was a genius, but he wrote for nobles and parties, whereas Ludwig was always trying to unlash passions that weere kept chained. He should be big, loud, and dangerous.

and the nobility tried to keep him from doing "The Marriage of Figaro," fearing it would unleash unsavory revolutionaries in the populace. It didn't work, of course, and became much beloved even though the official performances suffered from a whispering campaign that had them close early. Same with "Don Giovanni." "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" was set in a seraglio and the PTB were outraged by an opera set in an Ottoman concubine warehouse. In all these things, the music was so utterly wonderful that they were only barely suppressed.

He might have had to write commissioned, polite stuff for the nobility and perform at their parties, they were the only ones whose patronage would allow him to survive. His published music was more like MP3s we have now, widely distributed among all amateur musicians and, in a day when recorded music was only in music boxes, everybody tried to play something. If they had tin ears, they tried percussion. If they had no sense of rhythm, they were observers and slightly to be pitied, sort of like people who are so tech impaired they can't figure out how to download music from the net.

I don't honestly think Beethoven would have been allowed to do what he did had not Mozart preceded him and not only pushed the envelope, but ripped through it with alarming frequency.

39+ years ago at my wedding. Sound was hauntingly beautiful in the echo-y church. My joy that day has only been surpassed by the birth of my daughter.

The four soloists are very well matched. If they're not (and they're not on a lot of the recordings I have), they can sound like tomcats on the back fence because of the very demanding vocal score.

They don't here. They are as wonderful as the chorus.

Thank you so much...This was fabulous.

Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!

Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.

(in case you are a believer in God the Almighty and the Just)

Über Sternen muss er wohnen.

Love Beethoven's 9th!

there are no words I know of that convey his intensity, knowledge of every note from both voice and instrument. Awesome../

Very moving.