Beethoven's 240th Birthday
History isn't absolutely clear on this point, but we're pretty sure today is Ludwig van Beethoven's birthday. Most of us have the image of the older Beethoven in our heads: stone deaf, isolated, angry, tormented. Some of that late Beethoven is in the show today, but also some early Beethoven, like a charming little Sonatina for recorder and guitar from the Minnesota Beethoven Festival. Plus Beethoven's massive oddity for orchestra, chorus, and piano soloist: the Choral Fantasy, from a concert in San Francisco.