A special pan-European music event that celebrates the tremendous music of Ludwig Van Beethoven will take place in 9 European cities this coming Sunday, June 6.
The event called Europe Celebrates Beethoven will include 9 concerts that will be broadcasted live from selected cities in Europe, and will be dedicated to the famous musical symphonies of German composer and music pioneer, Beethoven.
Each one of the 9 cities will host a concert that will play one of the 9 symphonies, accompanied with full orchestras, while some cities will also present choreographies inspired by traditions and cultural elements of each country.
Participating in the event is of course Greece, and the historic city of Delphi that will be hosting Beethoven’s 7th Symphony live from its Ancient Theatre.
Free live streaming will be available for everyone to join around the world, to watch the entire event with all 9 concerts, which will start at 2pm (Greek time) in Bonn, the birthplace of the great German composer, and will end at 11pm in Vienna, the place where Beethoven passed away.
“All eyes are on Delphi,” said Teodor Currentzis (Θεόδωρος Κουρεντζής), the acclaimed Greek conductor, musician and actor, who will lead the concert in the Ancient Theatre.
Mr. Currentzis from Athens, is a multi-instrumentalist, who started playing piano at the age of four and violin at the age of seven, and has produced some of the biggest classical music concerts and plays around Europe, including those of Mozart, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Purcell and Prokofiev, among many others. He has also won the National Theatre Golden Mask Award 9 for his exceptional work and contribution to classical music.
His choir and orchestra, musicAeterna, will participate in the event, along with The Athens Concert Hall, which released a statement saying that “this will be a magnificent concert of classical music, hosted in an UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Ancient Theatre of Delphi, that was built in a place of unique natural beauty on the 4th century BC.”
The Greek concert will also be choreographed by Sasha Waltz, one of the most important figures of modern dance, who has choreographed over 50 award-winning plays.
For the concert at Delphi, Ms. Waltz explained that she has prepared a new choreography with 12 dancers, that is inspired by the “kinesiology” (study of body movements) of ancient Greek rituals, with absolute harmony of body movements and facial expressions, that is also in sync with Beethoven’s classical music.
While the actual events around Europe will happen without an audience, the Megaron Mousikis of Athens will broadcast the full event live for free, with a special setting at its gardens and two giant screens. The flow of the concert goers will be controlled with priority tickets – that can be booked online on the website of the Megaron – and a limited number of spectators will be able to attend, based on the current health guidelines.
This rare cultural event that celebrates classical music that was born in Europe, is organised by the Franco-German television station ARTE in collaboration with ZDF (German State Television) and Unitel, the leading international distributor of classical music producers around the world.
The journey into the wonderful world of Beethoven’s music will begin in Bonn, Germany, with the 1st Symphony, and later in Dublin, Ireland, with the National Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra of the Irish Radio and Television. The next stop will be Helsinki, Finland, and then Luxembourg and later Prague, Czech Republic that will present the very famous Symphony No5.
The picturesque Lugano in Switzerland will continue with the 6th Symphony, and later the “baton” will be taken by Greece and Teodor Currentzis that will perform the 7th Symphony. An hour later, the interest will turn to Strasbourg, France, and the last stop of this musical trip – and the 9th masterpiece symphony – will begin in the capital of Austria, with the Greek-born musician Karina Canellakis conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
Video of the event:
[su_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8bh__DYIJ8&ab_channel=Megaron-TheAthensConcertHall" width="700" title="Beethoven Day on ARTE - The Athens Concert Hall"]Sydney-siders are flocking to Parthenon Sculptures talk by renowned barrister Geoffrey Robertson
