Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A different look at Beethoven's 3rd symphony, 8 Oct 2007
Released in 2003 this BBC production concentrates almost entirely around Beethoven's conducting of the first performance (at the Lobkowitz Palace, Vienna, on June 9th 1804) of his now famous 3rd Symphony (which was later given the name `Eroica', meaning `heroic').
The significance of this symphony has been well documented, being credited as a milestone in musical history for several reasons. It's around twice as long as symphonies of the time, and covers a far broader range of emotional themes throughout its movements than was generally conveyed by symphonic music of this period. The work is widely attributed as being responsible for changing the style of music from the compositional restraints of the Classical period and heralding the start of the more freely emotional music of the Romantic era.
The film is concerned mainly with the comments and conversations which take place between the guests invited to this special performance. The film generally succeeds in conveying the intense emotional atmosphere surrounding the players and audience, and works hard at emphasising the ground breaking importance of this event. The dialogue is English, which makes easier viewing than subtitles, but some of the script could have been a little more authentic. Phrases such as `it doesn't work like that' are distinctly not of the 1800 period.
The film has some great lighter moments, such as the hilarious and embarrassing chastising of Beethoven's hapless assistant Ferdinand Ries (played by Leo Bill) when he dares suggest the horn player made a mistake. This event is well documented in the history books:
I [Ries] was standing next to Beethoven and, thinking it was wrong, I said, 'That damned horn player! Can't he count properly? It sounds frightfully wrong!' I believe I was in danger of getting my ears boxed. Beethoven did not forgive me for a long time." (From:Biographische Notizen über Beethoven, F. Wegeler and F. Ries, 1838).
The romantic side of Beethoven is shown during the interval, when he speaks with Josephine von Deym (Lucy Ackhurst) and the story of their romance that could never be. It's a touching and sad moment, acted with great conviction.
The best moment for me however comes after the orchestra makes several nervous and shambolic false starts to the 1st movement of the symphony. Beethoven (Ian Hart) loses his patience and demands that the music be played so that it sounds `urgent'. The subsequent restart is stunningly performed, and reproduced in full surround sound, by the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique (lead by John Eliot Gardiner). It's one of my favourite versions of Beethoven's Eroica symphony, and as a bonus is included in its entirety as a DVD extra, although unfortunately as sound-only rather than audiovisual.
The film is nicely summed up by Joseph Haydn (played by Frank Finlay) with his famous comment: `From today, everything is different'
Great entertainment, a bit of a history lesson, and a truly brilliant performance of Beethoven's 3rd symphony.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best performance so far - A must-have DVD, 17 Sep 2007
When I was a child, my father - who could not read music but loved it - used to tell me the basics of musical history, including how the Eroica ushered Romantic times into symphonic music. Having seen this film on TV, I decided to purchase the DVD, and I am very happy to have done so.
I agree with SOME of the criticisms by Nicholas Casley: everything is SO English, especially the acting! And certainly this is a product for the classical-music lover.
However the important matter for me is the performance. This recording by Gardiner and his orchestra is the best I have ever heard. It is indeed a bit too good for a first reading at the time, though I can hear a few very authentic mistuning of a double-bass and others. Most importantly, the reproduction of a performance in Beethoven's time is incredibly accurate, down to the role of conductor and leader, scarcity of vibratos in wind instruments and many other matters of historical instrument sound, speed, balance and phrasing. These are not just details, but an important part of the work as conceived by Beethoven: they make the work sound much more coherent, convincing and moving.
I take note of the discrepancies Casley finds between sound, orchestra and venue. Nevertheless, I find this the most careful and beautiful reproduction so far of how Beethoven wished to hear his Eroica: close your eyes and you are literally there and then. Well done Gardiner and the Orchestre! The drama around the performance adds interesting historical and personal inputs to this vision of a masterwork that indeed changed the history of music.
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2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Heroic Deception, 8 Aug 2007
This is an attempt at an authoritative portrayal of the first performance of Beethoven's Eroica symphony. Whilst the core of this film maybe true, there are so many inaccuracies as to make it, for me, seriously deficient as a true drama. We have, for instance, papa Haydn turning up halfway through the finale, and Beethoven striking through the symphony's dedication to Napoleon in a tavern just after the first performance, when Napoleon was crowned months after the announcement of the empire.
The sound of the symphony is provided by the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and plainly not by those performing in the film. If it was, then the sound would be not as we would expect in the 21st century, for the room in which this so-called performance is supposed to be taking place is too small, and the size of the band itself is too small, to produce the music on the soundtrack: this adds to the sense of deception in my eyes.
Here we have Beethoven's revolutionary symphony being performed for the first time, with supposed reactions by the members of its first audience, but the actual sound is that of another orchestra recorded in another place in near-perfect conditions and under the discipline of a leading conductor. Are we led to believe that the very first performance of this monster of a symphony was so perfect, that the orchestra played so well within minutes of receiving their sheet music? And no complaints from the orchestra members about the massive length of the symphony? We all know how musicians are not so timid about the terms and conditions under which they work!
And everyone looks so English, the house looks English, its architecture and decor and furnishings look English, and, of course, everyone speaks English and with English accents! No-one seems to have tried very hard in this quarter. Meanwhile the ladies look on politely but as if they cannot wait for the music to end so that they can go shopping in Marks and Spencer. And oh, how sad is everyone's face during the second movement! It is laughable to think that you can convey by the looks of people's faces what effect a piece of music might be having on them: it is too contrived and just ends up looking like a silent comedy.
I am, in conclusion, forced to ask myself for whom was this film made? And why?
So is there anything to be positive about? Yes: the acting. In poor productions, you can always count on good English actors to make the most of a bad situation. Tim Pigott-Smith is fine as the haughty Count Dietrichstein, and Jack Davenport portrays a kind Prince Lobkowitz to a tee, eager to allay any sign of acrimony. Frank Finlay's a surprisingly persuasive Haydn. More could have been made of the excellent Anton Lesser as Sukowaty. What about Ian Hart's Beethoven? Well we all have in our minds, I suppose, a picture of what the man was really like. For me, he was good, but only just convincing: I prefer Gary Oldman's portrayal in "Immortal Beloved".
What else is good? The notes by Misha Donat in the accompanying booklet are excellent. Anything else? Ah, yes, the music itself, of course. Whilst this production can be at least praised for doing something to bring the wonder of this marvellous music to the public's notice, it is Beethoven's own masterpiece that will draw me back to view this DVD again.
By the way, the bonus (making up 45 minutes of the total running time) is advertised as an extra performance option of the music by the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. I was hoping that this meant we would actually get to see them in action, but no, alas, what you get is their sound played against repeats of the film. Another deception?
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