Boston Symphony Orchestra ; Beethoven & The Rite of Spring

There’s so much more to Beethoven’s Symphony No 5 than its stop-you-in-your-tracks opening gesture. Beethoven builds a whole structure out of that opening four-note pattern – sometimes the players seem to be throwing it to each other like a ball, sometimes it reappears quietly and builds up in overlapping layers, and sometimes the whole orchestra is playing it in unison, giving it everything they’ve got. 200 years after Beethoven’s death, the power of ‘The Fifth’ is undiminished.

The uplifting mood of Beethoven's finale makes way for a piece whose tumultuous 1913 premiere heralded a whole new era in music. As befits a ballet depicting a pagan ritual that ends in human sacrifice, Stravinsky’s score is weird, wild, loud and terrifying – and the chance to hear it live from one of the great American orchestras is not to be missed.






Presented by the Barbican.

Part of Beethoven Residency: Andris Nelsons and Lang Lang and International Ensembles.

Barbican Classical Music Programme receives major support from Marcus Margulies and additional support In Memory of John Murray.





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