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Season Introduction

Season Features

2008 concerts

5 October
Sunday, 2.45pm

26 October
Sunday, 2.45pm

15 November
Saturday, 7.30pm

23 November
Sunday, 2.45pm

7 December
Sunday, 2.45pm

31 December
Wednesday, 2.45pm


2009 concerts

18 January
Sunday, 2.45pm

8 February
Sunday, 2.45pm

1 March
Sunday, 2.45pm

15 March
Sunday, 2.45pm

29 March
Sunday, 2.45pm

THE BEETHOVEN SYMPHONIES: V-VII

Sunday 18 January 2009 2.45pm
Brighton Dome Concert Hall

Beethoven
Symphony No.5 in C minor
'Ah! perfido'
Symphony No.6 in F 'Pastoral'

Barry Wordsworth conductor
Elizabeth Atherton soprano

200 years ago, on 22 December 1808, Beethoven gave the premieres of his fifth and sixth symphonies in a now legendary gala concert that included his fourth piano concerto, movements from his Mass in C, his Choral Fantasia for piano, orchestra and chorus, and the concert scene and aria 'Ah! perfido'. It lasted over four hours!

Continuing the BPO's cycle of Beethoven Symphonies, begun in 2007, the orchestra recreates part of that extraordinary concert.

'The fifth' has become an icon of classical music, and was revolutionary for its time, with a journey from tragedy to glory that threads its way through the whole symphony. The 'Pastoral' symphony is by contrast a gentle depiction of rustic life, but despite obvious pictorial references, not least the dramatic storm scene, Beethoven said the symphony was 'a matter more of feeling than of painting in sounds'.

The concert scene and aria 'Ah! perfido... Per pieta' ('Ah! faithless... For pity's sake') belongs to the musical tradition of laments by abandoned women. Full of mood swings it has an expansive drama which by contemporary accounts proved too much for the soprano who Beethoven engaged at the last minute in 1808. In 2009 it is sure to be given a dramatic and engaging performance by a soprano equally at home in the concert hall and on the opera stage (most frequently for Welsh National Opera): Elizabeth Atherton.

Tickets £8 - £30 (Click here to book online)

1.45pm Pre-concert interview onstage with Barry Wordsworth and Ivan Rockey (General Manager, BPO) (Tickets £2.50)

Click here to download the printed programme for this concert
(available at least 48 hours before the concert)