Trivia for
Immortal Beloved (1994) More at IMDbPro »

• Some extras fainted in the extreme heat during the filming of the funeral scene.
  
  
• While the actual performances of Beethoven's piano pieces in this film were not played by Gary Oldman, the actor practiced five hours a day so that his movements would be in time with the performances of Murray Perahia, which were done off-camera.
  
  
• Bernard Rose removed the music from the Columbia and Focus opening segments; he thought they sounded "cheesy" compared to Beethoven.
  
  
• Stephen Rea turned down the role of Beethoven.
  
  
• Although the movie stars Gary Oldman and he appears from the very beginning, he does not say anything for the first twenty minutes of the film.
  
  
• Anthony Hopkins was the original choice to play Beethoven.
  
  
• What Beethoven says to Schindler during their first meeting (a rehearsal of the Kreutzer sonata) is taken from Tolstoy's short story "The Kreutzer Sonata".
  
  
• Jeroen Krabbé, who plays the part of Schindler, was going to play the part of Beethoven. Later on the part went to Gary Oldman and Krabbé was asked to play Schindler.
  
  
• The same year this came out, Gary Oldman also starred in Luc Besson’s Léon (1994), in which he plays a character who is obsessed with Beethoven.
  
  

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