Ode to Joy
Rudolfinum, 20 November 2017 at 7:30 p.m.
Ludwig van Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
Ondrej Lenárd – Conductor
Prague Philharmonic Choir
Simona Šaturová – Soprano
Jana Sýkorová – Alto
Jaroslav Březina – Tenor
Peter Mikuláš – Bass
Principal conductor Ondrej Lenárd devotes the second concert season in its entirety to Ludwig van Beethoven. The season will begin with the Leonore Overture No. 3, the most dramatic and presumably the best of the four overtures that Beethoven composed for his only opera Fidelio, originally called Leonore, hence the name of the overture.
Fun fact:
Before Beethoven, “Ode to Joy”, by German poet Friedrich Schiller, was put to music by Franz Schubert and then by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Petro Mascagni, but none of the works has become as renowned as Beethoven’s Ninth.
The highpoint of the evening will without a doubt be Symphony No. 9, the Ode to Joy. Joining the Radio Symphony to perform this symphony will be a quartet of excellent Czechoslovak soloists and the Prague Philharmonic Choir. The majestic composition, which builds up to its ecstatic finale, where Beethoven put Schiller’s verses to music, has become one of the most famous works in music history.
Ticket prices: 440 / 390 / 350 / 310 / 180 / 100 CZK
