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Beethoven's Seventh

The volatility of Beethoven defines the public's caricature of the composer. His impassioned love of Napoleon before 1804, and his fiery hatred after, plays directly into this perception. We can hear these passions changing between The Eroica and the Seventh Symphony, the former composed when Napoleon was Beethoven's hope for an egalitarian Europe. The latter was debuted for the Austrian veterans upon Napoleon's defeat. We hear it performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. Bernard Haitink directs.

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