Event is Live
CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS

Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

Thursday, February 20, 2020 8 PM Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Hear Beethoven as audiences of his day would have when the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique—using valve-less brass, gut strings, and other period instruments—perform two symphonies. The Symphony No. 2 honored the style codified by Haydn and Mozart, but its boisterous humor and energy are undeniably Beethoven. With the “Eroica,” Beethoven revolutionized the symphony by creating an epic, muscular work that thrills with its swashbuckling depiction of heroism and opens the door to a new symphonic era.

Part of: Sir John Eliot Gardiner Perspectives and Beethoven Celebration

Partner events on February 7 and February 27 explore the instruments featured in this concert.

Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique is also performing February 19, February 21, February 23, and February 24.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is also performing February 18, February 19, February 21, February 23, and February 24.

Performers

Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Artistic Director and Conductor

Program

ALL-BEETHOVEN PROGRAM

Symphony No. 2

Symphony No. 3, "Eroica"

Event Duration

The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.
Sir John Eliot Gardiner: 2019–2020 Perspectives Artist
KPMG
Sponsored by KPMG LLP
Lead support for the Beethoven Celebration is provided by The Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund.
National Endowment for the Arts: arts.gov
Public support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
In honor of the centenary of his birth, Carnegie Hall’s 2019–2020 season is dedicated to the memory of Isaac Stern in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to Carnegie Hall, arts advocacy, and the field of music.

At a Glance

This concert presents an important transitional symphony in Beethoven’s career and a work that launched the Beethoven revolution at full throttle. Beethoven’s Second Symphony loosely adheres to the 18th-century Haydn-Mozart model, but also marks the point where Beethoven put himself on what he called a “new path” toward greater freedom and originality. Written when Beethoven was first experiencing terrifying symptoms of deafness, it nonetheless expresses uninhibited joy and exuberance. The Third, however, was something entirely new. It has a whiplash energy, an epic structure, and an explosion of experiments that ushered in the Romanticism of Schumann, Wagner, Mahler, and many others. It is longer, freer, more demanding, more complex, and more emotionally varied than any previous symphony.

Bios

Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is revered as one of the world’s most innovative and dynamic musicians, and as a leader in the contemporary musical world. His work—as founder and ...

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Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

Founded in 1989 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR) strives to provide bold new perspectives on the music of the 19th and early 20th ...

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