Zubin Mehta

The concert dedicated entirely to Ludwig van Beethoven and conducted by Zubin Mehta, will open with the Leonore Overture n. 3, written for the second version of the opera Fidelio. Next in the program is the brilliant Symphony no. 8, with its tribute in the second movement to the swinging of the metronome, perfected in those years by his friend Johann Nepomuk Maelzel. The evening closes with the majestic Symphony n. 3, which at the time of its composition, was the longest symphony to have been written. Initially entitled as the Symphony Bonaparte in honor of Napoleon, when the First Consul proclaimed himself Emperor he so disappointed the fervent revolutionary ideals of the composer, that the title was changed to the Eroica.

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven
Leonore overture III
Symphony n. 8 in F major, op. 93
Symphony n. 3 in E-flat major, op. 55 Eroica

Artists

Conductor
Zubin Mehta

Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Born in Bonn December 16, 1770 to a family with a long musical tradition, but his first important teacher was Christian Gottlob Neefe. It is in 1787 in Vienna where he has a fleeting encounter with Mozart and where he returned five years later to study with Haydn. On April 2, 1800 are executed with great success his Primo Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra and Prima Sinfonia. In 1802 commencing work on Terza Sinfonia, Eroica the style of Beethoven acquires grandeur. The first version of Fidelio, his only opera, was staged in 1805 but was a failure. Becoming virtually deaf however he continued to compose, creating the outstanding masterpieces Missa Solemnis (1819-1823) and the Ninth Symphony (1822-1824). He died in Vienna March 26, 1827 and at least twenty thousand people attended his funeral.