As Orchestra in Residence of the venerable Laeiszhalle, the Symphoniker Hamburg obviously can’t be left out of the Hamburg International Music Festival. They can be heard in a truly »revolutionary« live stream from their home concert hall on 20 May under the baton of Sylvain Cambreling. The programme consists of Beethoven’s »Eroica« and Arnold Schoenberg’s »Ode to Napoleon«.
Beethoven was originally going to dedicate his Third Symphony, the »Eroica«, to Napoleon, whom the composer admired as a hero. But his admiration turned into the opposite when Napoleon had himself crowned Emperor, thus betraying the liberal ideals of the French Revolution in Beethoven’s eyes. The composer responded by deleting the dedication from the score. However, the music itself remained revolutionary. Beethoven’s pupil Ferdinand Ries reported in awe: »I believe heaven and earth must tremble when it is performed.« Tyranny is also the subject of the »Ode to Napoleon« that Arnold Schoenberg wrote nearly 150 years later for narrator, piano and strings. The 1942 work makes many references to Beethoven, and even ends in the same key as the »Eroica«: E-flat major.
Note: All Hamburg International Music Festival 2021 concerts are available to stream free of charge. Once premiered, each concert stream can be accessed for the whole festival period.
Performers
Symphoniker Hamburg
David Kadouch piano
Dörte Lyssewski narrator
conductor Sylvain Cambreling
Programme
Arnold Schoenberg
Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, Op. 41 for string quartet, piano and narrator
Interval talk (in German) with Christoph Menke (philosopher from Frankfurt) and Daniel Kühnel (General & Artistic Director of the Symphoniker Hamburg)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 »Eroica«
Supported by the Kühne Foundation, the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media, Stiftung Elbphilharmonie and the Förderkreis Internationales Musikfest Hamburg
