Symphonic Monuments - Beethoven

The new concert series Symphonic Monuments is addressed to those brave and conscious adults who would like to know the true meaning of the adjective "symphonic" (so popular in recent years) and to hear live and understand the evergreens of orchestral works. Each concert will begin with a short, casual lecture introducing the composer and explaining the concept and form of the piece. The first concert in the Symphonic Monuments series will open with one of the most famous symphonies of all time – Beethoven's Eroica.

When in 2011 "BBC Music Magazine" asked 151 conductors to name the greatest symphony of all time, the overwhelming majority chose Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, Eroica. Although now considered an absolute classic and a true icon of symphonic music, it was an incredibly innovative, even revolutionary work in its time. Only some were ready for it. Indeed, Beethoven set the bar high for music lovers of his era. He created a symphony that was half again as long as any they had known. The composer demanded the orchestra perform at an extraordinarily high level of virtuosity, which contemporary ensembles struggled to meet. Finally, he produced a work unprecedented in its complexity of polyphony and rhetorical power and full of surprising details. One critic wrote with undisguised indignation after the work's premiere in April 1805: For the public, this symphony was too difficult and too long... Beethoven, on the other hand, felt that the applause was insufficient.