Episode 41 - Karl

John picks up Beethoven’s story as the year 1815 dawns, and he discovers the great composer in good form; he’s finally finished his opera, Fidelio, and has been commissioned to write an overture to celebrate an Austrian hero. John plays that now obscure piece, along with the cello sonatas he was turning to at that time. But then, a devastating event led to Beethoven taking a dramatic course of action; his brother died, and he fought for legal custody of his nephew. John tells the story, and plays the wind quintet and septet that debuted in concert around that time, reflecting the composer’s mood after the legal verdict was revealed. All the Beethoven pieces featured in this podcast are taken from the 90-disc Naxos box set, the Complete Beethoven Edition. You can buy yours by heading to Presto Classical and Europadisc.