This is a list of the concerts, showing what's happening when and where. More information will show you ticket prices and box office details, and where available you are given the option to book tickets online at the venue's website.
CONCERT 1 March 2007 - Early works
SYMPHONY NO. 1
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2
SYMPHONY NO. 2
Symphony No. 1 is full of surprises, from the opening discord in the wind to a very cheeky violin passage that begins the finale, while the Second Symphony is full of vigour and fire, especially for the trumpets and horns. Piano Concerto No. 2 shows Beethoven's love of
off-beat accents, adding spice and wit to the music.
15 March at Cadogan Hall, London, 7.30pm
17 March at Fairfield Hall, Croydon, 7.30pm
23 March at Cheltenham Town Hall, 7.30pm
CONCERT 2 April 2007 - The Fiery Fifth
EGMONT OVERTURE
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4
SYMPHONY NO. 5
The Cycle continues with possibly one of the most famous symphonies ever written. The opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony has been described in many ways, including fate knocking at the door, but its distinctive 'da-da-da-daah' is recognisible by millions. Piano Concerto No. 4 uses the very same theme, but in a much more lyrical fashion.
25 April at The Anvil, Basingstoke, 7.45pm
26 April at Cadogan Hall, London, 7.30pm
CONCERT 3 November 2007 - The Emperor
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 5 (Emperor)
CORIOLAN OVERTURE
SYMPHONY NO. 4
Beethoven never performed his Fifth Piano Concerto as he was too deaf by that stage in his life. However, it is a remarkable work, uplifting and inspiring, with an orchestral part of symphonic proportions. Beethoven raised the stature of both soloist and orchestra to a level unknown before and unsurpassed since, and it truly deserves the title of 'Emperor'.
7 November at Fairfield Hall, Croydon, 7.30pm (book online)
8 November at Cadogan Hall, London, 7.30pm (book online)
9 November at The Anvil, Basingstoke, 7.45pm (book online)
CONCERT 4 December 2007 - The Pastoral
PROMETHEUS OVERTURE
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3
SYMPHONY NO. 6 (Pastoral)
Beethoven himself described his Pastoral symphony as "something in which the emotions are expressed that are aroused by the pleasures of the country". Sounds of nature flood the work with calls of the nightingale, quail and cuckoo, a rustic drunken dance and then the orchestra lets fly with the crash of thunderbolts and raindrops in a dramatic storm.
1 December at Malvern Theatre, 7.30pm
3 December at Cadogan Hall, London, 7.30pm (book online)
CONCERT 5 February 2008 - Violin Romance
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1
VIOLIN ROMANCE
SYMPHONY NO. 7
The slow movement march of Symphony No. 7 is one of the most intensely moving ever written - indeed at its première the audience demanded that it be repeated! The blazing finale has a driving dance momentum that summons the horns to exciting prominence, carrying the work to a frenzied abandon of uncontainable intensity.
8 February at Cadogan Hall, London, 7.30pm
CONCERT 6 April 2008 - The Eroica
SYMPHONY NO. 8
SYMPHONY NO. 3 (Eroica)
The Eroica Symphony was the beginning of Beethoven's symphonic revolution. Written just after finding out his hearing loss would worsen and contemplating suicide, it shows his determination to struggle on until he had artistically "brought forth all that I felt was within me". It certainly does that in a musical expression of heroic struggle, death, rebirth and ultimate victory of the human spirit that leaves the listener on an exhilarated high.
10 April at Cadogan Hall, London, 7.30pm
CONCERT 7 May 2008 - 'Ode to Joy'
FIDELIO OVERTURE
AH! PERFIDO
SYMPHONY NO. 9 (Choral)
Played every year at the BBC Proms, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is one of the most powerful and uplifting works ever written. It is the first example of the human voice used alongside instruments in a symphony and the effect of the chorus entering with the 'Ode to Joy' theme can literally take your breath away. It is one of his great masterpieces, yet was composed when he was completely deaf.
20 May at Cadogan Hall, London, 7.30pm
21 May at Fairfield Hall, Croydon, 7.30pm (book online)
