IDS 101: Beethoven, Romanticism, and the Concept of the Hero: Websites and Films

Based on the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, the passionate and volatile musical genius who inspired love and hate in equal measure. A thrilling search for the identity Beethoven's one true love-- the unnamed 'Immortal Beloved' mentioned in an enigmatic letter discovered upon his death.

Covering the years from 1801-1825, this is the story of how Beethoven falls in love with one of his students, Juliette, but she loves another, so he throws himself into his work... (In French with English subtitles)

For nearly two decades he strode the world stage like a colossus--loved and despised, venerated and feared. From his birth on the rugged island of Corsica to his final exile on the godforsaken island of St. Helena, 'Napoleon' brings this extraordinary figure to life.

In 1830s France, pianist/composer Frederic Chopin is pursued romantically by the determined, individualistic woman novelist who uses the name George Sand.

In 1772 Germany, the young and tumultuous Johann Goethe aspires to be a poet. After failing his law exams, he is sent by his father to a sleepy provincial court to mend his ways. Unsure of his talent and eager to prove himself, Goethe soon wins the praise and friendship of his superior, Kestner. But then Lotte Buff enters his life and nothing is the same as before.

Fictional account of the meeting between Lord Byron and Percy Shelley during the summer of 1816, spent with their lovers at a Swiss villa. There they experimented with drugs, alcohol, and free love, and Mary Shelley found the evil inspiration for her novel, Frankenstein.

Byron charts the rise and fall of an irresistible and devastatingly handsome genius who had it all and threw it all away. It begins as Byron's struggle for acceptance as a poet is reversed by the publication of Childe Harolde's Pilgrimage, which turns him into an overnight success and the toast of London society--the 19th century equivalent of a bad-boy rock star.

Nineteenth century poet John Keats and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne, started out as unlikely lovers who were totally at odds with each other. However, when Brawne offers to help Keats nurse his seriously ill brother, the two soon became involved in an unstoppable romance...

San Francisco Symphony's music director, Michael Tilson Thomas, retraces Beethoven's steps through Vienna's aristocratic ballrooms and Austria's rustic villages, exploring how Beethoven channeled his fears of deafness, his admiration for Napoleon, and his obsession to prove himself the greatest composer of his time and to write the Eroica. Includes a live performance of Beethoven's Eroica by the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.

A performance of Fidelio, Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The story dramatizes plight that befalls Florestan, the only political dissident brave enough to openly criticize the criminal misdeeds of governor Don Pizarro. The London Philharmonic Orchestra and Glyndebourne Chorus

Herbert von Karajan's recordings of Beethoven's nine symphonies, filmed 1967-1972, show an array of innovative film techniques which set a new standard for music filming and for the interpretations of these symphonies.