AN EVENING OF BEETHOVEN

2020 was the year of Beethoven: on December 16, we celebrated the 250th anniversary of his birth. We were preparing to celebrate this occasion with the performance of his greatest work, Missa Solemnis, which was called off two times in a row due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Three years after the anniversary, as a result of the economic impact of world politics, we have to cancel the performance of this fantastic piece. However, we are still going to perform works of Beethoven: two of his emblematic symphonies. Within the composer’s fascinating oeuvre, his nine symphonies stand out, for each of these symphonies form an individual unit on their own. The significance of the Symphony No. 1. is that it reflects on the tradition the young composer inherited and learnt from his masters, while also bearing notes of his own personality. Symphony No. 5. is the representation of Man who is able to withstand the blows of Fate and a confession of faith that the cruelty of Fate can be defeated. Between the two symphonies, we will play one of Beethoven’s earlier pieces, a concerto-aria that starts with the outcry ‘Ah perfido!’ (‘Ah! Deceiver’), a dramatic scene written for a single female voice in Italian. Although the opera genre was quite alien for Beethoven at the time, this piece was still a major success; it was published in print in his lifetime, and has been widely played in concerts ever since.