The Creatures of Prometheus, a ballet produced in Vienna in 1801, was not
well received at its first performance. Today, aside from the overture,
the ballet music is rarely heard. This work was composed during a time of
intense personal crisis for Beethoven. In 1801 he wrote a friend, "I am
leading a miserable life; for almost two years now I have been avoiding all
social functions simply because I feel incapable of telling people that I
am deaf." The ballet is based on the myth of the god Prometheus, who stole
the fire from the heavens and gave it to mankind, along with the knowledge
of arts and sciences. In writing the Prometheus score, Beethoven had to
adhere to the conventions of ballet music, which required a chain of
relatively short pieces.
This recording is part of Leonard Bernstein's Beethoven cycle, recorded
primarily with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the early 1980s.
Writing in The New York Times, critic John J. O'Connor stated: "As
Mr. Bernstein says, there is 'no single body of work in the universe of
orchestral music that is in any way comparable to this one.' Conducted with
intense dedication and soaring spirits by Mr. Bernstein, these recordings
are superb, both visually and aurally."
The DVD is also released within the complete "Beethoven / Bernstein" DVD package which is available in selected stores worldwide and through Amazon or JPC.