Beethoven and Peace

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (May 16, 2020)

In 1960, at the height of the "Cold War", Soviet pianist Sviatoslav Richter played an all-Beethoven concert at New York City’s famous Carnegie Hall, some 70 years after Tchaikovsky opened that hall. It was a sensation.

Though extremely fast, to us, this performance of the Beethoven "Appassionata" Sonata, demonstrates an impassioned urgency: that two of the most cultured nations in the world, not annihilate one another.

We reproduce that live 1960 performance at Carnegie Hall here. Listen to the applause at the end of the work. The Americans clearly appreciate the subtle and sublime performance of the Russian pianist! Could that appreciation have translated to something beyond that evening’s performance?

Could classical music actually have played a role in avoiding a world war?