Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Beethoven is probably the most admired composer, both among musicians and audiences, who ever lived. Beethoven is usually grouped with Mozart and Haydn as one of the three great composers of the Classical style. His music is traditionally divided into three periods. In the first period, roughly 1790-1802, the music shows grace and charm and resembles closely the styles of Mozart and Haydn. Beginning around 1803 with the "Eroica" Symphony, Beethoven's music becomes much more dramatic. Great works such as the Fifth Symphony, the Middle String Quartets, and the Violin Concerto arose in this period. From about 1812 to the end of his life, when Beethoven was almost completely deaf, he composed sublime and intensely personal works, such as the Ninth Symphony and the Late String Quartets, that were not always easy for his audiences to grasp at a first hearing.
Beethoven grew up in a musical family in Bonn, where his talents were recognized from a very early age. In 1792 he left for Vienna to study composition with Haydn, and he spent the rest of his life in that city. In his twenties he aborbed the influences of Mozart and Haydn, mastered their Viennese style. Just as he was beginning to make a name for himself in, Beethoven realized that he was starting to lose his hearing, and he composed his greatest and most revolutionary works while struggling with this burden. By the time he turned fifty Beethoven was known throughout Europe as the greatest living composer. Beethoven's influence on later music was tremendous; his works paved the way for the Romantic era, and all of the later composers of the nineteenth century felt themselves toiling in Beethoven's shadow. His music – piano, chamber, and orchestral – remains immensely popular today, and is still the standard by which great performers, ensembles, and conductors are judged.
What to do next
Once you have browsed and read about the recommended albums of this section at Classicalcdguide.com, you can come back here and download the albums that has cought your interest. The albums marked by a red number are the ones I have yet been unable to find anywhere so any help on that matter would be very much appreciated.
If you want more
In case you feel inspired to get more you are welcome to visit the main page of project Climax from where you will have access to a virtual library of quality recordings of classical music. Everything indexed into a variety of categories that should suit everyones taste.
01 - Symphonien Nos. 5 & 7 - Carlos Kleiber & Wiener Philharmoniker (DG 1996)
http://rapidshare.de/files/30678511/Climax013a.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30675880/Climax013a.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30653236/Climax013a.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30653235/Climax013a.part1.rar
02 - Favourite Piano Sonatas - Alfred Brendel (Philips 1994) 2 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/30702746/Climax014b.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30698540/Climax014b.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30694540/Climax014b.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30690504/Climax014a.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30685201/Climax014a.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30685200/Climax014a.part2.rar
03 - The String Quartets Op.59 1-3 & 74 - Takacs Quartet (Decca 2002) 2 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/30749597/Climax015b.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30745326/Climax015b.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30741151/Climax015b.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30736823/Climax015b.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30733044/Climax015a.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30729335/Climax015a.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30723511/Climax015a.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30707674/Climax015a.part1.rar
04 - Symphonien No. 9 'Choral' - Herbert von Karajan & Berliner Philharmoniker (DG 1963)
http://rapidshare.de/files/30768447/Climax016a.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30765017/Climax016a.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30759739/Climax016a.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30754852/Climax016a.part1.rar
05 - Violin Concerto in D major - Mozart; Violin Concertos No. 5 - Schneider, Jochum (DG 1996)http://rapidshare.de/files/30798586/Climax017a.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30777557/Climax017a.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30774726/Climax017a.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30771902/Climax017a.part1.rar
06 - Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No. 5 - Fleisher, Szell & Cleveland Orchestra (Sony 2002)
http://rapidshare.de/files/30870773/Climax018a.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30865818/Climax018a.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30853416/Climax018a.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30848972/Climax018a.part1.rar
07 - Symphony Nos. 3 ' Eroica' & 8 - George Szell & Cleveland Orchestra (Sony 1990)
http://rapidshare.de/files/30887543/Climax019a.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30884160/Climax019a.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30880848/Climax019a.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30876553/Climax019a.part1.rar
08 - Violin Sonatas 'Kreutzer' & 'Spring' - Itzhak Perlman & Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca 1973)
http://rapidshare.de/files/30916843/Climax020a.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30913775/Climax020a.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30897610/Climax020a.part1.rar
09 - The Late String Quartets Opp.95, 127, 130-133 & 135 - Takacs Quartet (Decca 2004) 3 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/30966639/Climax021c.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30961789/Climax021c.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30952357/Climax021c.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30948381/Climax021c.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30944658/Climax021b.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30940362/Climax021b.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30936198/Climax021b.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30931449/Climax021a.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30928041/Climax021a.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30924198/Climax021a.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30919780/Climax021a.part1.rar
10 - Die Späten Klaviersonaten - Maurizio Pollini (DG 1997) 2 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/31027888/Climax022b.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/31022227/Climax022b.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30995557/Climax022a.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30990166/Climax022a.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/30971599/Climax022a.part1.rar
11 - Symphony No. 6 - Schubert; Symphony No. 5 - Karl Böhm & Wiener Philharmoniker (DG 1995)
http://rapidshare.de/files/31041134/Climax023a.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/31037726/Climax023a.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/31034419/Climax023a.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/31031193/Climax023a.part1.rar
12 - Piano Trio Op.97 'Archduke' & 11 - Schneider, Casals, Istomin (Sony 1994)
http://rapidshare.de/files/31053439/Climax024a.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/31044914/Climax024a.part1.rar
13 - Complete Music for Cello and Piano - Rostropovitch (Philips 1994) 2 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/31738428/025BZXCVBNMT.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/31733607/025BZXCVBNMT.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/31729106/025BZXCVBNMT.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/31724331/025AQMNFBAPV.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/31720138/025AQMNFBAPV.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/31714501/025AQMNFBAPV.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/31709985/025AQMNFBAPV.part1.rar
14 - Messe in C - John Eliot Gardiner & The Monteverdi Choir (Archiv 1991)
http://rapidshare.de/files/33773730/B.MS.JEG.TMC.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/33774282/B.MS.JEG.TMC.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/33773044/B.MS.JEG.TMC.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/33775883/B.MS.JEG.TMC.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/33782832/B.MS.JEG.TMC.Cvrs.rar