A symphonic megahit, an ideological testament of the Enlightenment, a milestone in the history of music, “La Marseillaise of Humankind”, the anthem of Europe, the first choral symphony in history whose length was determined by the capacity of the CD ... It is hard to believe that from the very beginning The Ninth was not surrounded by a cult, not until it entered the canon only thanks to Richard Wagner, who conducted the work during the inauguration of the festival in Bayreuth, more than fifty years after its Viennese premiere in 1824. Today, two hundred years after its first performance, Beethoven’s last symphony is still breathtaking and remains a challenge set by the genius to generations to come. For the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, its performance will be the closing of the entire Beethoven symphonic cycle – because it is the last symphony of the master from Bonn, which the musicians have not yet played.
The first part of the concert will be filled with lesser-known works by the German genius. The evening will open with the Coriolan Overture inspired by Heinrich Josef von Collin’s drama of the same title. Beethoven completed it in 1807 – shortly after writing the first three versions of the overture to Fidelio. The composer, using the formal assumptions of the sonata allegro, depicts the dilemmas of the play’s protagonist – a Roman patrician who, condemned to exile, joins the Volscians – enemies of Rome –and is torn between the desire for revenge and the ideal of unconditional loyalty to his homeland.
The next work on the programme – the trio Tremate, empi tremate, composed in the Italian style, was premiered ten years before The Ninth Symphony, more than a decade earlier, when Beethoven was studying with Antonio Salieri. The text comes from the libretto by Giovanni de Gamerra, originally used by Giuseppe Sarti in the popular opera Medonte, King of Epirus. The short cantata Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, written to two texts by Goethe, closing the first part of the concert, will serve as an excellent introduction to the musical feast of the second part. A particularly sublime choral arrangement of the ending of the piece will be a perfect announcement of the mood of the famous finale of the groundbreaking Ninth.