Zelman Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven 256

Beethoven fans were left disappointed in 2020 with a somewhat curtailed 250th Anniversary celebration. Zelman Symphony Orchestra make up for it with this concert devoted to the bad-boy of classical music.

The Coriolan Overture was written as an introduction to Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s tragedy about the legendary, defiant Roman general, Coriolanus. The music depicts his aggressive military power, but it famously does not end in triumph. Instead, the work gradually unravels and fades into silence, mirroring the general's collapse and ultimately tragic end.

Symphony No. 4, while not as famous as the other symphonies, still displays the lively and dramatic character we’ve come to expect from Beethoven. It shows his wit and lyricism with brilliant scoring for woodwinds.

Symphony No. 7 is full of relentless, driving rhythms, concluding with an ecstatic finale. Richard Wagner came to describe the symphony as “the apotheosis of the dance”, while Beethoven at the time spoke of it as one of his best works.