On November 20, 2013, the first of four concerts performed by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Christian Thielemann took place in Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow. The orchestra played Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 4 and 5. In the next several days the audience will enjoy the remaining seven symphonies by the great composer performed by Europe’s oldest symphony orchestra.

The concert tour of the Vienna Philharmonic in Moscow in November 2013 has a unique programme. At the four concerts, the audience will enjoy all of Beethoven’s symphonies.

“Beethoven is our foundation; so, his works have a special significance for us. We perform the Beethoven series of concerts very rarely: it only happened fourteen times in the history of the orchestra. Four of these fourteen times maestro Thielemann conducted the orchestra”, comments Clemens Hellsberg, President of the Vienna Philharmonic.

The series of concerts was launched on November 20 with Symphonies No. 4 and 5. Symphony No. 5, which took the composer a long time to create, is undoubtedly a recognized symbol of classical music itself and one of the most significant musical pieces of its time. Symphony No. 4 was composed “in a single stride, without the usual preliminary drafts” (according to R. Rolland, researcher of the great composers work) and is one of the few lyrical larger works by Beethoven. The brilliant interpretation of Symphonies No. 4 and 5 performed in Moscow by the Vienna Philharmonic well deserved the audience’s praise. The concert was met with a standing ovation.

Irina Nikitina, President of the Musical Olympus Foundation: “Like everyone here, I was incredibly impressed by the power of the music I heard today. I have a feeling that it is impossible to perform better!”

There are three unforgettable concerts by the Vienna Philharmonic in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall ahead of us. Today, on November 21, the audience will enjoy Symphonies No. 6 and 7, the earlier Symphonies No. 1 and 2 on Saturday night, followed by the “Heroic” Symphony No. 3. Symphonies No. 8 and 9 will close the series of concerts on Sunday. In the final movement of the Ninth Symphony, which was created after the great composer had lost his hearing and  now signifies a new chapter in the history of the symphony genre, Friedrich Schiller’s Ode to Joy will be performed by soloists and choir.