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Melbourne Symphony Orchestra presents Beethoven Fives
November 4, 2022 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
$69 – $129
Experience the power and grandeur of Ludwig van Beethoven at the height of his powers, alongside the Australian premiere of a bold new work by Brett Dean – inspired by Beethoven’s own piano concertos.
Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 was written at the tail end of a personally turbulent but creatively prolific decade for the composer. Renowned concert pianist and curator Jonathan Biss joins the MSO for this lush, cascading work which rewrote the rules of the piano concerto.
Over five years, Biss co-commissioned five composers to produce their own piano concertos in response to Beethoven’s contributions to the genre. Brett Dean’s atmospheric Gneixendorf Music, a Winter’s Journey was informed by a summer spent in the small Austrian village where Beethoven resided for a few months towards the end of his life.
Symphony No.5 opens with the most famous ‘da da da duumm!’ in history. But there is more to this piece than its impactful beginning: Beethoven takes a number of simple themes and expertly weaves them into a layered musical texture, all while building a sense of dramatic urgency.