ByJeffrey Kaczmarczyk
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 is one of the greatest achievements, not only in classical music, but in all of Western culture.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Leonard Bernstein on Christmas Day conducted an international orchestra in performances of Beethoven’s Ninth in East Berlin that was televised throughout the world.
Beethoven’s last symphony and his only symphony to use voices began as a defiant statement of freedom hurled at the repressive monarchies of Europe. Today, “Ode to Joy,” from the finale of Beethoven’sNinth Symphony, is the official anthem of the European Union. It’s not hard to see why.
“We should all be friends and get along and respect each other and fight together for a common goal,”said Grand Rapids Symphony Music Director Marcelo Lehninger of Beethoven’s Ninth. “What an incredible piece of music.”
Grand Rapids Symphony ends its 2017-18 season with Beethoven’s Ninth at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 18-19, in DeVos Performance Hall.
Lehninger will lead soprano Jessica Rivera, mezzo-soprano Susan Platts, tenor John Matthew Myers and baritone Richard Zeller plus the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus in the 10th and final concerts of the 2017-18 Richard and Helen DeVos Classical series. Guest artist sponsor is the Edith I. Blodgett Guest Artist Fund. Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus Sponsor is Mary Tuuk.
The piece is an emotional journey from darkness to light, from minor to major from chaos to order.
“When I conduct Beethoven’s Ninth, I’m always immersed in these emotions,” Lehninger said. “Beethoven’s music does that like no other.”
The concerts also will include two contemporary pieces inspired by Beethoven. The concert opens with Variações Temporais, Beethoven Revisitado (Temporal Variations, Beethoven Revisited) by Brazilian composer Ronaldo Miranda, a witty, series of short, orchestral portraits, each inspired by another of Beethoven’s musical works. In 2014, Lehninger conducted the world premiere with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra in Brazil.
Rounding out the program will be the world premiere of Testament by Grand Rapids composer Alexander L. Miller, who also is assistant principal oboist of the Grand Rapids Symphony.
Commissioned by the Grand Rapids Symphony, Testament, Beethoven’s 1802 “Heiligenstadt Testament” for Bass-Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra, takes its text from a letter that Beethoven wrote in 1802 to his brothers, expressing his anger and frustration at losing his hearing. Though he considers suicide, Beethoven declares he will live on for the sake of the music he has yet to write.
It’s also a letter that Beethoven never sent. It was discovered among his private papers following his death in 1827.
The concerts will be the first time Lehninger has conducted the Grand Rapids Symphony in one of Beethoven’s nine symphonies. It won’t be the last.
“One of my goals is to work in one or two Beethoven symphonies every season,” Lehninger said.
The story of the first performance of Beethoven’s “Choral” Symphony No. 9 in D minor is one of the legendary stories of music history. At the premiere in May 1824, Beethoven, with his back to the audience, stood near the conductor, giving tempos and following the score. When the performance ended, the alto soloist approached Beethoven and turned him around so that he could see the enthusiastic applause he no longer could hear.
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- Inside the Music, a free, pre-concert, multi-media presentation sponsored by BDO USA, will be held before each performance at 7 p.m. in the DeVos Place Recital Hall.
- The complete Beethoven’s Ninth program will be rebroadcast on Sunday, June 3, 2018, at 1 p.m. on Blue Lake Public Radio 88.9 FM or 90.3 FM.
Tickets are available at the DeVos Place ticket office, weekdays 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. or on the day of the concert beginning two hours prior to the performance. Tickets also may be purchased online at GRSymphony.org.
Full-time students of any age are able to purchase tickets for only $5 on the night of the concert by enrolling in the GRS Student Tickets program, sponsored by Comerica and Calvin College. This is a MySymphony360 eligible concert.
