There was scarce an empty seat in the Concert Hall of the Opera House at this performance conducted by Simone Young .Beethoven at the apogee of his symphonic powers composed this, the last of his symphonies in the years prior to its first performance in Vienna in 1824. He was now deaf. And three years later he was dead.
Nearing the end of his life Beethoven meant for it to be a testament to his profound and deeply felt belief in Mankind, in Nature, and in the Creator. It is a symphony unlike any ever composed.
The long drawn out softness in the chords opening the first movement lay down Beethoven’s vision. There is a sense of a celestial Heaven beyond the myriads of stars. And beyond that .. the Creator. Suddenly He is there. Announced in fortissimo, it is one of the most powerful sequence of chords in the symphonic oeuvre . “Look to the Heavens! Beyond the starry firmament there is a loving Father … ” There followed an exposition of the power and glory of the Almighty.
The second movement was entirely different. Man, carefree and mischievous.
It was the third and fourth movements that brought the performance to a towering climax.
The third, beautifully conducted by Ms Young, imbued us with an enduring sense of the eternal.
And then the fourth. It was a bravura performance by The Philharmonia Choirs. Clad entirely in black and singing purely from memory, the choir brought Friedrich Schiller’s poem “Ode to Joy” alive in a cascade of joy and exuberance. Utterly distinct and unified, their voices brought a compelling veracity to Beethoven’s vision of Mans’ Eternal Brotherhood : “Alle Menschen werden Bruder”!
There are many versions of what precisely Beethoven had in mind in composing his symphony. But every audience ..as far back as its original performance in Vienna’s Kaerthnerthor Theater..leaves with a profound sense of the Destiny of Man in the Eternal Cosmos. Simone Young and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs were central, inimitable and glorious in bringing Beethoven’s vision to life.
Production photography by Jay Patel
