9th Symphony by Beethoven, Od (2022/2022), Dirigent Teodor Currentzis, Megaron Athens Concert Hall, Athens, Greece

Without exaggeration, Ludwig van Beethoven went to his Ninth Symphony all his life. Back in the 1790s, he was trying on "Ode to Joy" - perhaps the most popular poem by Friedrich Schiller, written on the eve of the French Revolution (1786). In his mature and, especially, in his later years, the deaf composer, who possessed the sharpest “vision of hearing”, increasingly moved away from conventional forms and genres, wrote parts that went beyond the capabilities of the instruments that existed in his time. He nurtured the idea of ​​a symphony with a choir for at least several years. In the 1820s, Beethoven was no longer perceived only as a musical genius, but also as a moral ideal, a spiritual authority. From Beethoven they expected statements about the fate and destiny of all mankind, and the composer answered this request with the Ninth Symphony. Combining the symphony with a choral cantata based on Schiller's text, rethinking the structures of all parts leading to the finale, Beethoven broke the classical canons of the symphony and turned his work into something more than music - into a publicistic appeal to millions, into a sermon, a teaching, a way to transform an imperfect world. The history of the interpretation of the Ninth Symphony is 200 years of amazing revelations and languid stagnation. Performed by the musicAeterna orchestra, choir and guest soloists conducted by Theodor Currentzis, Beethoven's opus magnum acquires the primordial poignancy and energy of a new discovery.