Beethoven - Symphony 5 [Maazel-Vienna Philharmonic]
A live recording of the fifth, recorded on tour in Japan in 1980, i must say that the Japanese audiences sound really enthused with their clapping at the end of this performance, bravo's and cheering for all, as with a live performance there are some extraneous noises, especially between movements, but on the whole the audience is quiet.
I really enjoyed the thrill of that revolutionary opening movement, there's nothing else like it in Classical music, it's the perfect way to jolt people out of their seats, and quite possibly the opening is the most well known musical phrase in all classical music, and just as an aside, the 'da da da dum' represents the letter V in Morse code, and also the Roman numeral V stands for the number 5.
I listened to this while walking to catch the bus, nice early morning stroll, there's something about listening to music while outside, the opening motif tune permeates the whole movement, politeness is cast aside for sheer power and rhythm, it's motif comes at you relentlessly wave upon wave, stronger and stronger, and then a respite, and then menacingly stronger and stronger again, it would be torture if it wasn't music, the ending [7:44-7:54], is almost as revolutionary and emphatic as the opening, the whole thing takes your breath away.
Here's a clip from the actual Japanese tour on YouTube, the hair cuts are a bit dated now!, ha ha.
