Simon Rattle conducts Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Madrid

This was a special honour for the Berliner Philharmoniker: Queen Sophia of Spain attended one of the concerts and afterwards welcomed the musicians and their chief conductor. The concerts themselves were not only a musical, but also a European event: A German orchestra with a British conductor in Spain, in addition to a multinational ensemble of soloists with the soprano Camilla Tilling (Sweden), contralto Nathalie Stutzmann (France), bass Dimitry Ivashchenko (Russia) and an overseas guest, the Canadian tenor Joseph Kaiser.

All the more appropriate then, that the work of the evening was Beethoven’s Ninth, whose final movement – in an arrangement by Herbert von Karajan – has been the official anthem of the European Union since 1985. This interpretation also allowed room for expressive development beyond the “Ode to Joy”, such as the Adagio molto, which here unfolds like a delicate piece of chamber music. The exultant finale built up to a stupendous climax.

Berliner Philharmoniker

Sir Simon Rattle

Chœur titulaire du Teatro Real