Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
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 20, February 21, February 23, and February 24.
Sir John Eliot Gardiner is also performing February 18, February 20, February 21, February 23, and February 24.
Lucy Crowe is also performing February 24 and May 3.
Performers
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Artistic Director and Conductor
Lucy Crowe, Soprano
Program
ALL-BEETHOVEN PROGRAMOverture, Introduction, and Act I from The Creatures of Prometheus
"Ah! perfido"
Symphony No. 1
Leonore Overture No. 1
"Ach, brich noch nicht, du mattes Herz!" - "Komm, Hoffnung, lass den letzten Stern" from Act II of Leonore
Finale to The Creatures of Prometheus
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.
At a Glance
This concert presents works from Beethoven’s early period, some of them rarely performed. The First Symphony has bright echoes of Haydn and Mozart, as well as teasing glimmers of the new energy and sweep that Beethoven was soon to bring to music. The Creatures of Prometheus, a rarely performed ballet, features melodic generosity, transparent orchestration, and a fascinating forecast of the “Eroica” Symphony. The three arias on the program—one a stand-alone concert piece, the others from Beethoven’s only opera—combine passionate lyricism with treacherous challenges for the soprano, a harbinger of later vocal works such as the Missa solemnis and Ninth Symphony. The version of Beethoven’s opera used by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, including the overture, is the infrequently heard Leonore, the prototype of the more familiar later version entitled Fidelio, a popular work that kept Beethoven connected with his audience at a time when his mature works—the ones familiar to us—were denounced by many as abstract and incomprehensible. The charm, passion, and ingenuity in all these pieces demonstrate that even if Beethoven had not gone on to be a major innovator, he would have remained a brilliant exponent of the Classical style.