With “Culture Today” special editions, documentaries, concerts by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, radio features
Vienna (OTS) – Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is one of the most symbolic works in European music history – not least because the composer’s vision of values such as humanity, equality, justice and peace, expressed in the final, fourth movement with the famous “Ode to Joy”. served as the inspiration for today’s European anthem. The ORF program focus on TV and radio, which was launched at the end of April to mark the 200th anniversary of the premiere of the “Ninth” (May 7, 1824), will present several highlights in the anniversary week from May 6 that honor the cultural and historical occasion.
ORF III on the anniversary day with a symphony concert as part of a European TV project
After the documentary “Beethoven: The Tenth – How could it have continued?” about an exciting musicological AI project and the dacapo of the two-parter “Beethoven’s Vienna” at the opening of the Beethoven Festival on television, ORF III is presenting the 9th Symphony on the anniversary day Part of a unique European TV project in cooperation with ARTE. Under the motto “Europe celebrates Beethoven – ORF III celebrates with us!” (Tuesday, May 7th, 8:15 p.m.) the live, time-shifted transmission of the work as interpreted by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra from the Great Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus is on the program – and is also part of a four-city concert series. On this day, ARTE is presenting the four movements of Beethoven’s “Ninth” one after the other live, with a time delay, from four European metropolises – performed by four top orchestras, each under top-class musical direction. In addition to the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig with Andris Nelsons, the Orchester de Paris under Klaus Mäkelä and the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala in Milan with Riccardo Chailly, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under their designated chief conductor Petr Popelka contribute the fourth movement with the “Ode to Joy”. Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Andreas Schager, Christof Flammesser and the choir of the Vienna Singing Academy under the direction of Heinz Ferlesch will sing. To get you in the mood, ORF III will be showing a “Culture Today Special” (7:45 p.m.) on May 6th and 7th, which will, among other things, look at rehearsals in Paris, Milan and Vienna as well as interviews with Scala director Dominique Meyer and Konzerthaus director Mattias Naske , soloist Andreas Schager and culture lady Barbara Rett. On May 7th, directly before the concert broadcast, the “Experience Stage” program “Beethoven’s Ninth – The Countdown is on” (8 p.m.) can be seen: Barbara Rett goes on a journey through Vienna and feels the eventful history of the creation of the 9th Symphony after.
ORF 2 on Europe Day with a new documentary and Philharmonic concert under Riccardo Muti
ORF 2 is focusing its Beethoven focus on Europe Day, Thursday, May 9th (Ascension Day): First up is the new documentary “Beethoven’s Ninth and the Kärntnertortheater – A Musical Thriller” designed by Barbara Weissenbeck (9:15 p.m.; Dacapo: Sunday , May 12, 9:05 a.m., ORF 2) on a journey through time into the exciting past of the former cultural institution and thus also to the premiere of Beethoven’s masterpiece. The film embarks on a detective search for the historical plans of the stage house that was demolished in 1874 and, thanks to breathtaking 3D animations, “resurrects” it not only visually but also acoustically. Also shown is the adventurous creation process of the 9th Symphony, which is very well documented using the composer’s conversation notebooks and provides the musical framework for the documentary. The last choral passages of the 4th movement with the famous “Ode to Joy” at the end of the film are played by the original sound orchestra of the Vienna Academy on the stage of the digitally “rebuilt” Kärntnertortheater.
On the same evening there will be a top-class performance of the composition under the title “Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200 – Vienna Philharmonic’s anniversary concert” (10:20 p.m.; already on Tuesday, May 7th, live on Ö1) under the direction of Riccardo Muti from the Vienna Musikverein the game plan. Julia Kleiter, Marianne Crebassa, Michael Spyres, Günther Groissböck and the Wiener Singverein sing.
The TV evening on ORF 2 ends with the historical drama “Louis van Beethoven” (11.40 p.m.) by Niki Stein, co-produced by ORF in 2020, with Tobias Moretti in the title role, which shows the person behind the extraordinary artist from different perspectives.
Beethoven anniversary on Ö1 with radio features and Philharmonic concert
Kulturradio Ö1 is also honoring the musical anniversary with numerous programs: After an “Opus – the music colloquium” about “The myth-shrouded birth of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony” broadcast on May 1st, three editions of the “Selected” series will also be dedicated from May 6th ” (10:05 a.m.) the musical work: The focus is on “Friedrich Schiller’s poem ‘Ode to Joy’ – not only set to music by Beethoven” (Monday, May 6th), “The kk Hoftheater next to the Kärntnertore” (Tuesday, 7th. May) and “Beethoven’s work around the ‘Ninth’” (Wednesday, May 8th). On the anniversary day of the premiere, Ö1 will broadcast the aforementioned performance of the oeuvre by the Vienna Philharmonic under Riccardo Muti from the Wiener Musikverein under the motto “200 Years of the 9th Symphony” (Tuesday, May 7th, live at 7:30 p.m.).
Further details about the program are available at presse.ORF.at or at oe1.ORF.at.