Even in a fractured world, our shared humanity endures. Though chaos attempts to divide, let music bring us together.
Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 continues to resonate and inspire through its message of resilience and unity. In 2027, the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death, the MSO’s Opening Night commemorates the revolutionary composer with a program of his works to uplift and rejoice in the enduring power of the human spirit.
Chief Conductor Jaime Martín's affection for Beethoven is well-known. The MSO’s sold-out 2024 performances of the 9th Symphony previewed the physical representation of the respect and pure enjoyment Jaime feels when leading this work. It is infectious, and the MSO musicians catch it. He “manages to extract from their performance all the joy, hope and resilience of the music” (Limelight).
Joining Jaime are a superb quartet of soloists, including German dramatic mezzo-soprano Stefanie Irányi who performs the concert aria Ah! Perfido . Irányi's range of vocal colours will bring a new depth to the aria’s conflicting emotions.
Beethoven wrote four overtures to his opera Fidelio , of which Leonore is the central character. Eventually favouring a more succinct opener for the opera, the No.3 overture spans the material of the entire score, ending as the opera does, in a musical embodiment of triumphant freedom.
