Drunk with Fire by Beethoven, от (2022/2022), диригент François-Xavier Roth, Kölner Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany

It is the universal message of the human spirit: Friedrich Schiller’s »Freude schöner Götterfunken«, Beethoven’s conclusion of his Ninth Symphony, is a hymn of praise to friendship, love and humanity. Whenever people celebrate a grand moment of human community, be it at New Year’s concerts or at state occasions, Beethoven’s most prominent symphony is the score lying on the stands, waiting to be played. Yet it took Beethoven years of internal struggle to transform the »Ode to Joy« into music. He even added the human voice to the orchestra sound, for the first time in the history of the symphony as a genre. François-Xavier Roth has invited singers from Cologne choirs to join the Gürzenich Orchestra in celebrating Beethoven’s euphoria in the grandiose finale of the Ninth – a brilliant opening of the new season.