Paavo Follows Ludwig

No doubt some grad student could write a thesis on why Paavo Jarvi's performance of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony with the German Chamber Philharmonic of Bremen is something unique in the hundreds of performances of this piece I've heard in my life, and thousands more of other Beethoven works. But in this, perhaps the single most crucial 15 minutes of music to everything that we now understand music is (this and Louis Armstrong's Hot Five?...another day for that). Instead, let me explain:

Prop 1: Deaf composer - cannot hear his music.

Prop 2: Deaf composer can read a clock.

Prop 3: Deaf composer is not moron.

Ergo: When metronome mark equals 60 to the dotted quarter deaf composer BLOODY WELL MEANT IT!

check out how Paavo Jarvi becomes the Edmund Hillary of Eroica climbing

...and yes, I've taken the ambien.