Beethoven: Symphony No 9 in D minor

This is my favorite classical music composition ever.  This  performance is delivered with precision and passion by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra:

Symphony No 9 in D minor, Op 125 “Choral”

Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven

(1770, Bonn, Germany — 1827, Vienna, Austria)

Beethoven is widely regarded as the greatest composer who ever lived.  His 9th Symphony combines the worlds of vocal and instrumental music in a manner never before attempted. His personal life was marked by a heroic struggle against encroaching deafness, and some of his most important works were composed during the last 10 years of his life when he was quite unable to hear.

Performance by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Christian Thielemann, conductor

1 Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso

2 Scherzo. Molto vivace — Presto

3 Adagio molto e cantabile

4 Presto — Allegro ma non troppo

Annette Dasch, soprano

Mihoko Fujimura, contralto

Piotr Beczala, tenor

Georg Zeppenfeld, bass