2020 marks the celebration of Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary and ensembles across the world are sharing their Beethoven interpretations. The following list demonstrates some of the many ways to perform Beethoven: streamed online, paired with new commissions, paired with standard works, and performed as stand alone compositions. 

Colorado Symphony's Digital Ode to Joy

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is an ode to humanity, to peace over desperation, to universal kinship and, of course, to joy. The Colorado Symphony comes together virtually to share an excerpt of this work. 

Brooklyn Rider: Healing Modes

String Quartet Brooklyn Rider addresses the healing powers of music in this new release. The slow movement of Beethoven’s Opus 132, Song of Holy Thanksgiving From a Convalescent to the Deity in the Lydian Mode, is among the most profound expressions of healing in the string quartet repertoire. Beethoven’s Op. 132 quartet is paired with five works commissioned for, and premiered by Brooklyn Rider. The composers include Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, Matana Roberts, as well as recent Pulitzer prize winners, Caroline Shaw and Du Yun.

Teodor Currentzis & musicAeterna: Symphony No. 5

Following their performance at the 2018 Salzburg Festival and BBC Proms, musicAeterna and Teodor Currentzis travelled to Vienna, where they recorded the Fifth and Seventh Symphonies at the Konzerthaus over the course of a week. The Guardian praised their BBC Proms performance as “Playing of an intensity that makes the music seem somehow Beethoven-plus; more Beethoven than ever before.” Sony Classical released the recording of Symphony No.5 on April 3, their recording of Symphony No. 7 is set to release in Autumn 2020. 

Lara St. John and Matt Herskowitz: Key of A 

Violinist Lara St. John will release her new album Key of A with pianist Matt Herskowitz on April 17, 2020. The album pairs Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9, “Kreutzer” in A Major with Cesar Franck's Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano, and also includes Fritz Kreisler's Schön Rosmarin. Lara St. John shares, “for the Beethoven 9 (Kreutzer), I had been waiting for a pianist who would be able to keep up with the extremes I envisioned for this piece, tempo and volume-wise. Obviously, old Ludwig wanted the pianist to improvise, which is what Matt does in the piano cadenzas." Key of A will be released on Ancalagon Records on April 17, 2020.

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