Beethoven gets a 250th birthday bash
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven will get a big birthday bash on the 250th anniversary of his birth.
The Grammy Award-winning American music producer Quincy Jones and German-British composer and pianist Max Richter will premiere new music to celebrate the occasion.
The Beethoven Anniversary Society announced this week that two concerts will be streamed online, as part of the BTHVN2020 festivities to celebrate the composer's birth.
On Dec 17, 3.30am Singapore time (Dec 16, 8.30pm CET), audiences around the world can tune into www.magenta-musik-360.de and bthvn2020.de for a free concert, BeethovenNight Powered By Telekom. The concert is by conductor Dirk Kaftan and Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, a symphony orchestra based in Bonn, Germany, where Beethoven was born in 1770.
The concert will mark the world premieres of Ode To Joy, a composition by Jones, and Opus 2020, a composition by Richter.
It will feature guests such as soul singer Joy Denalane, pianist Olga Pashchenko and cabaret artist Sarah Bosetti.
On Dec 18, 3.15am Singapore time (Dec 17, 8.15pm CET), renowned pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra will play in the Bonn Opera House.
The programme includes Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto In C Minor Op. 37 and the Symphony No. 5 In C Minor Op. 67.
Catch the anniversary concert on bthvn2020.de or the Google Arts & Culture YouTube channel.
The celebrations of BTHVN2020, a landmark year for Beethoven lovers, has been extended until September next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
