Concert Review: BEETHOVEN & ROMANTICISM (Symphonies 1, 2 & 3 [Eroica]; Boston Symphony Orchestra)

THE PROGRESSION OF BEETHOVEN
OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) is seen as not only one of the world’s great composers but also a bridge from the classical musical traditions of Mozart and Haydn to the romanticism of successors such as Johannes Brahms.

Andris Nelsons conducts Beethoven Symphony No. 1 with the BSO

While never a child prodigy, Beethoven became a virtuoso pianist and was regarded as a great improviser. By 1802, however, he knew he was going deaf and believed his condition to be irreversible. He considered suicide, but ultimately decided, as he wrote in the Heiligenstadt Testament, that “it seemed unthinkable for me to leave the world forever before I had produced all that I felt called upon to produce.” In a letter to a friend, he wrote, “I will seize fate by the throat … ”  As his ability to perform declined in the face of his deafness, he increasingly turned to composition. While his body of work includes concertos, sonatas, string quartets, an opera, and other works, Beethoven is best remembered for his nine symphonies, which include some of the world’s most recognizable music.

Andris Nelsons conducts an all-Beethoven program with the BSO

In Boston, we have a rare chance to hear the Boston Symphony Orchestra perform, as part of a Beethoven Festival, all nine symphonies over a period of a few weeks for the first time since 1955. The concert series offers four programs, each repeated either two or three times. The festival comprises a number of other events, including Beethoven: Ways of Hearing (last night, Jan 8) Beethoven and the Piano (January 15 at 6) and Unrequited Love (January 18 at 6) at Boston’s Goethe Institute; a performance of the String Quartet No. 16 in F by the Lydian String Quartet at BYSO Youth Center for Music; and a Beethoven Piano Sonatas Masterclass with Marc-André Hamelin at Symphony Hall (see full schedule below).

BSO Concertmaster Nathan Cole in Beethoven Symphony No. 3

Having had the opportunity to hear the first program, which included the First, Second, and Third (Eroica) Symphonies, I can see we are in for a succession of gratifying events. Conductor Andris Nelsons was in fine form at the first performance, clearly enjoying himself as he teased and cajoled and sometimes exploded with energy to elicit performances that were at times crisp, lyrical, or simply exuberant but always assured.

Andris Nelsons conducts Beethoven Symphony No. 2 at Symphony Hall

Other than Nelsons himself, the star of the show was Timothy Genis on timpani. Sitting at the rear of the stage but elevated above the other musicians, he and Nelsons were often in direct communication, their eyes seemingly locked, and Genis’s work made clear the extent to which the timpani formed the backbone of Beethoven’s orchestral work—at least in the case of these three symphonies.

Andris Nelsons conducts the BSO in Beethoven's first symphony

While the First Symphony is melodic, it is also somewhat constrained and does not deviate significantly from the work of Beethoven’s predecessors. The Second Symphony goes a bit further, more playful, more quirky as it explores the dynamic potential of an orchestra’s various sections. It was while writing this symphony that Beethoven came to terms with his progressive hearing loss. Perhaps the decision to choose life unleashed the upbeat tone of the final movement of this light-hearted composition.

Andris Nelsons leads Beethoven Symphony No. 2 with the BSO

But it’s in the Third Symphony that we see Beethoven seizing fate by the throat, as he promised in his letter. The story of Beethoven’s planned dedication of the work to Napoleon Bonaparte is widely known. He saw the French general as a progressive reformer until Napoleon crowned himself emperor. At this point, Beethoven lost faith in the idea of a single hero, yet the power of the composition remains. The staccato opening is a precursor to the even more famous opening of the Fifth. The gorgeous, soaring melody that follows these sharply delivered chords transforms, in the second and third movements, into music that expresses first mourning and then exuberance to culminate in a triumphant finale is now an homage to an ideal, not an individual man.

The next three BSO programs will carry us through symphonies Four through Nine to give sound to Beethoven’s determination to produce what he felt he had to create to give meaning to his life despite his inability to hear, by the end, the results of his own composition. By the time we reach the end of his famous Ninth Symphony, we will have had a rare opportunity to witness the musical transformation of Beethoven’s shattered dream of the heroic individual into an expression of the power of a people united in joy to bring about an ideal world.

photos by Robert Torres courtesy of BSO

Beethoven Symphonies take place at Symphony Hall
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
for tickets, visit BSO

Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3, Eroica
ends on January 11, 2025

Beethoven and the Piano
Wednesday, January 15 at 6
Goethe-Institut, 170 Beacon St., Boston
Jan Swafford, lecturer
Clayton Stephenson, piano
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E, Op. 109

Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 5
Thursday, January 16 at 10:30 a.m. (Open Rehearsal – Tickets here)
Thursday, January 16 at 7:30
Friday, January 17 at 1:30
Symphony Hall

Unrequited Love
Saturday, January 18 at 6
Matthew Guerrieri, lecturer
Randall Scarlata, baritone
Tanya Blaich, piano
An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98
Goethe-Institut, 170 Beacon St., Boston

Symphony No. 6, Pastoral
Symphony No. 7
Saturday, January 18 at 8
Tuesday, January 21 at 7:30
Symphony Hall

Between Two Worlds
Wednesday, January 22 at 6
Scott Burnham, moderator
Lydian String Quartet
String Quartet No. 16 in F, Op. 135
BYSO Youth Center for Music, 235 Huntington Ave.

Beethoven Sonata Master Class with High School Students
Saturday, January 25 at 4
Marc-André Hamelin, pianist
Symphony Hall

Symphony No. 8
Symphony No. 9
Thursday, January 23, 7:30
Friday, January 24 at 1:30
Saturday, January 25 at 8
Amanda Majeski, soprano
Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano
Pavel Černoch, tenor
Andrè Schuen, baritone
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
     James Burton, conductor