A Rock Opera by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, detailing the final hours of the life of composer Ludwig van Beethoven, released in 2000.
Shortly after completing his "10th Symphony", Beethoven is visited by the goddess Fate and told that he is about to die. Immediately following this, the devil Mephistopheles arrives and lays claim to Beethoven's soul, but is willing to exchange it for the 10th Symphony. The album follows Beethoven as he looks back on his life of hardships, wondering what he could have done differently to avoid this confrontation.
The album can be found here
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Tracklist:
- "Overture"
- "Midnight"
- "Fate"
- "What Good This Deafness"
- "Mephistopheles"
- "What Is Eternal"
- "The Moment"
- "Vienna"
- "Mozart/Figaro"
- "The Dreams of Candlelight"
- "Requiem" (The Fifth)
- "I'll Keep Your Secrets"
- "The Dark"
- "Für Elise"
- "After the Fall"
- "A Last Illusion"
- "This Is Who You Are"
- "Beethoven"
- "Mephitopheles' Return"
- "Misery"
- "Who Is This Child?"
- "A Final Dream"
Tropes:
- All Love Is Unrequited: Beethoven is convinced his adored Theresa would not love him if she knew he were going deaf. Cue Theresa's song about how she would have loved him if he had only given her the chance.
- All There in the Manual: The CD liner notes elaborate a bit on the story, including some events that are not actually covered by the songs themselves (such as the Twist Ending).
- Cherubic Choir: Appears briefly during the vocal breakdown in "Mephistopheles' Return".
- Deal with the Devil: Mephistopheles kicks off the main plot by claiming that Beethoven's soul is going to Hell, but he'll let him off the hook if Beethoven hands over his unpublished Tenth Symphony. When Beethoven eventually declines, Mephistopheles proposes a rather more direct deal: hand over the Tenth Symphony or he'll torture a nearby street urchin to death. After trying and failing to rationalize to himself that the fate of a random orphan isn't his concern, Beethoven takes this deal, which is then written up by Fate's son, Twist. However, Twist writes the contract such that Mephistopheles doesn't actually get anything, as he is promised the Tenth Symphony of Ludwig von Beethoven, firstborn son of Johann and Maria von Beethoven, while the famous composer is actually the secondborn son of his parents and shares his name with their firstborn who died as an infant.
- Evil Is Hammy: Mephistopheles certainly hams it up whenever he's around (the fact that he sounds a lot like Mark Hamill's version of The Joker certainly helps.)
- Evil Sounds Raspy: Mephistopheles, particularly in "Misery".
- Foregone Conclusion: Beethoven's 10th Symphony has never been found. Except it doesn't happen the way you'd think.
- Gratuitous Latin: At the end of "A Last Illusion", a choir of ghosts exposits, in Latin, the whole point of the opera.
- Inspired by…: The hypothetical 10th symphony assembled by Barry Cooper based on Beethoven's last musical sketches. It is widely known that Beethoven intended to write another symphony, but most historians doubt he was anywhere near completing a manuscript for such a work when he died.
- It's a Wonderful Plot: In an unusual variation, it is not Beethoven's impact on others that is the focus of this trope, but rather the impact of deafness, pain and hardship upon him and his music. Though there is a brief bit where the muse reveals to Beethoven that his music would go on to inspire generations of musicians after him.
- Kick the Dog: Mephistopheles takes great glee in describing all the ways he'll torture the poor homeless orphan girl if Beethoven doesn't give him what he wants.
- "Leave Your Quest" Test: Essentially, Mephistopheles' entire scheme.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: Mephistopheles eventually contracts for the 10th Symphony as written by Ludwig van Beethoven, firstborn of Johann and Maria van Beethoven. However, it turns out that the composer is actually the second-born (with the same name), and that the firstborn Ludwig died at birth, so the contract does not apply to the composer Beethoven.
- Necessary Fail: Mephistopheles gives Beethoven the chance to change his life. In each instance, Beethoven discovers his misery, heartbreak, and eventual deafness all contributed to his incredible music. In the end, Beethoven refuses to erase even a single moment.
- Rock Me, Amadeus!: Most of the songs have melodies based upon Beethoven's works.
- Rock Me, Asmodeus!: Not the best songs of the album, but he gives it a good try.
- Sadistic Choice: Mephistopheles eventually forces Beethoven to give up the 10th Symphony, or else he'll torture and kill a random orphan girl sleeping outside his house.
- Shout-Out: Several tracks quote from famous classical compositions:
- "Overture" takes from Ludwig van Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", "Sonata Pathétique" and the fourth movement of his Ninth Symphony, followed by the 5th Symphony. It also quotes from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Requiem".
- "Mozart/Figaro" quotes from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Le Nozze d Figaro".
- "The Dreams of Candlelight" quote from Fryderyk Chopin 's "Opus 68, Mazurka No.3"
- "Requiem (The Fifth)" quotes from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "5th Symphony".
- "Für Elise" quotes from Ludwig van Beethoven's "Für Elise".
- "A Last Illusion" quotes from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Sonata facile", the "Ode to Joy" from Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee".
- Stealth Pun: Not all that stealthy, but spoilers to preserve plot. Fate's son is named Twist, and he delivers the surprise at the end. Twist of Fate, anyone?
- Uncommon Time: Mephistopheles' songs tend to be in 6/8 time, and many verses have one or two bars in 9/8, apparently for no reason other than to make him sound even more off-kilter.
- Villain Song: Tied between Mephistopheles and Misery, which is a cackling rendition of Mephistopheles' plan to kill a small child if Beethoven doesn't give over his soul. Featuring Jon Oliva's signature creepy laugh.
- "The Villain Sucks" Song: Mephistopheles' Return. Although it would be more accurate to call it a "The Villain Is Terrifying Song".
