Beethoven Year 2020: The nine symphonies with Kirill Petrenko and others
Kirill Petrenko, chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker, has already presented impressive renditions of Beethoven’s music with performances of his Seventh and Ninth Symphonies. We are taking the composer’s jubilee – 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of his birth – as the occasion for a playlist with all nine symphonies. In addition to Kirill Petrenko and his two predecessors, it includes conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Christian Thielemann and Paavo Järvi, who have influenced Beethoven interpretation in a variety of ways in recent decades.
The affinity of Philharmoniker chief conductors to composers such as Bruckner, Mahler, Haydn and even Mozart varied, but Beethoven, like Brahms, was at the centre of the artistic work for all of them. Kirill Petrenko’s predecessors Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and Sir Simon Rattle performed all nine symphonies again and again and also made complete recordings. Each of them developed a unique approach, but also benefited from the interpretations that guest conductors developed during their performances with the Philharmoniker.
This playlist shows very different stylistic directions: Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Giovanni Antonini are two conductors who looked at Beethoven’s works from the perspective of historical performance practice. Paavo Järvi, one of the most accomplished interpreters of the Classical and Romantic orchestral repertoire, has released an acclaimed complete recording of the cycle and is represented in this selection with a performance of the First Symphony. Gustavo Dudamel on the other hand was trained in the Venezuelan youth project “El sistema”. This internationally acclaimed initiative proved that Beethoven’s music speaks to young people from all over the world like no other. Finally, Christian Thielemann gave an unforgettable performance of the Eroica in his Beethoven debut with the Philharmoniker in 2015.
The Ninth Symphony marks the end of the selection, which, according to Kirill Petrenko, illuminates the positive as well as the negative, the hopes as well as the darker side of the human soul.
Our recommendations
- Philharmoniker premieres: Music of our time
- Mozart’s most beautiful piano concertos
- From Herbert von Karajan to Kirill Petrenko: Historical milestones in the Digital Concert Hall
- Splendour and grace: Baroque music with the Berliner Philharmoniker
- A conductor recommends: Susanna Mälkki’s highlights
- Undying fascination: The music of the “Golden Twenties”
