All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 Genius & Destiny

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    In this opening episode, Barenboim draws on excerpts from piano sonatas, concertos, and symphonies by Beethoven - comparing them with superficially similar works by Mozart.

  • S01E02 New Dimensions

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    Daniel Barenboim shines the spotlight on Beethoven's formal innovations - just as he refused to show subservience to his aristocratic patrons, he also flouted convention in music.

  • S01E03 Form - The Waldstein

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    Daniel Barenboim turns to the monumental Waldstein sonata - one of the most musically ingenious and technically demanding of the 32 piano sonatas.

  • S01E04 The Appassionata

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    Barenboim's fiery interpretation of the Appassionata sonata, a spectacular encapsulation of the synthesis of extremes that he discussed in the third episode.

  • S01E05 The Working Process

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    Daniel Barenboim turns his attention to the Leonore Overtures Nos 2 and 3, elucidating the path that Beethoven took from one to the other and the musical reasons for his revisions.

  • S01E06 The Fourth Piano Concerto - 1st Movement

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    The composer's Piano Concerto No 4, a soulful and contemplative work that finds Beethoven at his most poetic, and a piece holding a special place in the lore of his life and career.

  • S01E07 The Fourth Piano Concerto - 2nd & 3rd Movements

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    The remarkable Fourth Piano Concerto concludes with Daniel Barenboim alongside Sir Adrian Boult and the New Philharmonia Orchestra.

  • S01E08 The A Major Cello Sonata - Opus 69

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    The effortless musicality and irrepressible joy that have made generations of music lovers fall in love with the A Major Cello Sonata, performed here by Jacqueline du Pré.

  • S01E09 The Eroica

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    Daniel Barenboim turns his attention to Beethoven's Third Symphony, the Eroica, a watershed moment in the evolution of Beethoven's artistry and, indeed, of music itself.

  • S01E10 The Symphonist

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    An up-close look at the singular qualities with which Beethoven imbued all his work - the sheer breadth of his expression and his sensitivity for colour and sound.

  • S01E11 Sonata No 32 Op 111 - 1st Movement

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    Beethoven's final piano sonata's first movement, with its many differences in tonal and formal expansiveness, motivic spontaneity, and compositional architecture.

  • S01E12 Sonata No 32 Op 111 - 2nd Movement

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    The second movement of Sonata No 32, which presents a vision of eternity undisturbed and a spiritual expression of pure innocence consciously won through the lessons of experience.

  • S01E13 The Fifth Symphony

    • December 19, 2020
    • More4

    A spirited performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, with the young Daniel Barenboim at the helm of the New Philharmonia Orchestra.