Skip to main content.

Beethoven in New York: sinfonia ViVA with Ruth Palmer

Tuesday 18th November 2008 at 7.30pm
Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
Ticket details from the Box Office: 0115 989 5555
Online booking available

Ruth Palmer, Violin - photo credit Jochen Braun

Beethoven in New York... Tonight we contrast two works by the master with two pieces by one of the most lauded of American composers, Samuel Barber as Principal Conductor André de Ridder and sinfonia ViVA are joined by terrific violinist Ruth Palmer, who in May 2007 was awarded Young British Classical Performer 2007 at the Royal Albert Hall.

The energetic Coriolan Overture of 1807 was composed during a period in Beethoven's life which saw a mass of creativity (between 1803-1808) in which he wrote in every genre. It was not actually composed for a performance of the Shakespeare tragedy, but for a revival of a production by one Heinrich Joseph von Collin, a Viennese lawyer and friend of Beethoven. On to two works by Samuel Barber, starting with the 1939 Violin Concerto. A work conceived in some dispute (Barber had originally been commissioned to write it for the adopted son of a prominent industrialist, who subsequently disliked the way the piece had evolved and asked for a refund), it has nevertheless become one of the most popularly programmed concertos in the repertoire. Equally recognisable and well-loved is the poignant Adagio for Strings of 1938 - redolent with a beautiful sadness and longing which has led to its enormous popularity on cd and radio, as well as performances at, amongst other notable occasions, the funeral of Franklin Roosevelt and the Last Night of the 2001 BBC Proms shortly after 9/11, in stark contrast to the usual atmosphere of that evening. Finally, we return to Beethoven for his Symphony No.5 - a work of such gravity, magnificence and intensity that it needs little introduction. Composed between 1804 and 1807, it was premiered just before Christmas the following year to tremendous acclaim and has since become an enduring and key part of the map of western musical culture. "Thus Fate knocks at the door" as Beethoven described the opening of the work, the first four notes of which gave inspiration to the BBC's signal heralding messages to the beleaguered Resistance fighters of France, Belgium and Holland during the Second World War. Time has not mellowed its intensity and familiarity only enhances its ability to stir the emotions.

A fascinating programme exploring an intriguing theme.

Supported by Arts Council England

Photo credit: Ruth Palmer - Jochen Braun