ORF III shows the Vienna Symphony Orchestra from the Konzerthaus, ARTE takes over the fourth movement from Vienna for a four-city broadcast
Vienna (OTS) – On May 7, 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven’s now world-famous 9th Symphony was premiered in Vienna. As a musical prelude to an ORF TV focus on the 200th anniversary, ORF III will broadcast the entire work interpreted by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra from the Great Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus in the main evening program on the anniversary, May 7, 2024. With this live production, ORF III becomes part of a unique European television project: On May 7th, ARTE will present the four movements of Beethoven’s “Ninth” one after the other, live and time-shifted, from four European cities, 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 conductor Joana Mallwitz contributes the fourth and final movement with the famous “Ode to Joy”. , which served as the inspiration for today’s European anthem. 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.
At a press conference today, Thursday, February 22nd, the partners ORF III Culture and Information, Wiener Symphoniker, Wiener Konzerthaus and ARTE presented the details of this European TV event. The event in the Vienna Konzerthaus, presented by ORF cultural presenter Barbara Rett, took place in the presence of ORF III managing directors Peter Schöber and Kathrin Zierhut-Kunz, Jan Nast, director of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Matthias Naske, director of the Vienna Concert House, and Jean Wittersheim, associate ARTE main department head for music.
Peter Schöber, program manager ORF III: “Large, international audiences can take part in this cultural event from the heart of Vienna.”
“With this international cooperation with ARTE around the Europe-wide broadcast of the anniversary production of Ludwig van Beethoven’s ‘Ninth’ on the 200th anniversary of its premiere, ORF III fulfills its important function as a public mediator of art and culture in a special way. In this way, we are not only able to bring the important composer’s most famous symphony into people’s living rooms as a top-class performance by a top Austrian orchestra, but also far beyond the country’s borders. This means that a large, international audience can take part in this cultural event from the heart of Vienna, which was Beethoven’s historical place of work and the premiere location of this work. I am very pleased that the Vienna Symphony Orchestra has managed to recruit one of the most outstanding conductors of our time, Joana Mallwitz, for this project. My thanks go to our committed partners who make this co-production possible:
ARTE music director Jean Wittersheim, the artistic director of the Vienna Konzerthaus Matthias Naske and the symphonic director Jan Nast, not forgetting the highly motivated ORF III team around Barbara Rett.”
Matthias Naske, artistic director of the Vienna Konzerthaus: “The history of this house and the history of this work are connected.”
“Beethoven’s 9th Symphony has a special meaning for the Vienna Konzerthaus, because the history of this house and the history of this work are linked: at the opening of the Vienna Konzerthaus on October 19, 1913, Beethoven’s masterpiece was performed in combination with the premiere of one for this occasion composed work by Richard Strauss as a bridge between tradition and modernity. The musical performance of the festive opening was provided by the orchestra of the Vienna Concert Association, the orchestra from which today’s Vienna Symphony Orchestra emerged. Since the mid-1970s, Beethoven’s ‘Ninth’ – performed by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Singing Academy with changing soloists and conductors – has been the artistic highlight in the New Year’s Eve programming at the Vienna Konzerthaus and is therefore also firmly in the tradition of the people of this city anchored around the turn of the year.”
Jan Nast, artistic director of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra: “Sending Beethoven’s humanistic message to the world”
“Since the Vienna Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1900, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony has been one of the central works in the orchestra’s repertoire. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra has performed Beethoven’s magnum opus more than 300 times throughout its history. No matter how different the interpretations and performance locations may have been, the significance of the symphony for music history and for us as an orchestra is unique. We are pleased to be part of this European project and to be able to send Beethoven’s humanistic message to the world together with Joana Mallwitz from the Vienna Konzerthaus.”
Jean Wittersheim, ARTE – deputy head of the music department: “New perspective on the ‘Ninth'”
“We are proud that ARTE, thanks to its European partner network, can offer a TV music event that is both organizationally and artistically sophisticated. The concert evening, consisting of four top orchestras, each with top-class musical direction, presents the audience with a new perspective on the ‘Ninth’.”
Further highlights of the ORF anniversary focus: including the Philharmonic concert with Riccardo Muti, documentaries about Beethoven’s work and the creation of the “Ninth”.
A da capo of the two-part series “Beethoven’s Vienna” with star pianist and Beethoven expert Rudolf Buchbinder (Sunday, April 28th, 8:15 p.m., ORF III) will get you in the mood for the extensive Beethoven focus on ORF, followed by the new documentary “The Kärntnertortheater and Beethoven Ninth – A musical crime thriller” (Sunday, May 5th, 9:05 a.m. and Thursday, May 9th, 11:20 p.m., both on ORF 2). After the live production from the Vienna Konzerthaus with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (Tuesday, May 7th, 8:15 p.m., ORF III; before that, a short documentary at 8:00 p.m. to get you in the mood), ARTE presented its fourth movement as the grand finale of its four-city broadcast Leipzig, Paris, Milan and Vienna take over, there will be a second top-class performance of “Beethoven’s 9th Symphony” (Tuesday, May 7th, 7:30 p.m., Ö1 and Thursday, May 9th, 10:00 p.m., ORF 2) by the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Riccardo Muti from the Vienna Musikverein on the program. ORF III is also planning further topic-related documentaries as well as the broadcast of another extraordinary concert project: the completion of the 10th Symphony, which Beethoven left only in sketches.
Ö1 is also planning further broadcasts for the Beethoven anniversary.
The ORF.at network will also be dedicated to the event, including a multimedia story on ORF Topos. Streams of the broadcasts and programs of the TV program focus (if the corresponding online license rights are available) are available on ORF ON and in the ORF TVthek app. The ORF TELETEXT also provides information about the focus.
Further details about the program can be found in the press kit at presse.ORF.at.