If you are looking for a good drama that delves into the life and music of Ludwig van Beethoven, go to New York City's Eugene O'Neill Theatre and see Moises Kaufman's 33 Variations.
Basing his play on the time period, 1819-1823 when Beethoven decided to accept the challenge and commission by publisher Anton Diabelli to compose a variation on his waltz, playwright Kaufman creates Dr. Katherine Brandt, an aggressive, curt, Beethoven scholar as she conducts research on his Diabelli Variations from his diaries, musical fragments and scores at the archives in Bonn, Germany. Her dogmatic personality and stubborn spirit are evident as she rejects advice and overtures from her daughter since she is suffering with a wasting disease, ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
As she analyzes his music and writings, we witness Beethoven going through the frustrations of his life, particularly the loss of his hearing, his stomach problems and other physical ailments, his monetary distress and his irritating relationships with his assistant Anton Schindler and his publisher Anton Diabelli. Continuous, insurmountable obstacles needle him as his creative juices explode and the music emerges from his genius.
An interesting fact is that Beethoven was one of 50 contemporary Austrian composers including Liszt , Schubert, Drechsler, Schenk, Czerny, Kalkbrenner, Pixis, Moscheles, Stadler, Sechter, etc. who were asked to contribute a variation based on Diabelli's pedantic theme. As we know, Beethoven' ultimately wrote Thirty‐Three Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120, for piano composed during the time period 1819–1823.
Music director and concert pianist Diane Walsh performs Beethoven's variations throughout the evening as each one accompanies and illuminates different vignettes and emotional exchanges portrayed in the drama.
If you can't get to the theater, fell free to check it out from the library. In the meantime, here is Diabelli's Waltz, Theme & Variations I to VI performed by Piotr Anderszewski and recorded on French TV in July, 2008:
