Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra / Kent Nagano

Description

Beethoven’s Fantasy in C minor for solo piano, choir and orchestra is known as the »younger sister« of his Ninth Symphony and yet it is without a doubt no less spectacular: in it, Beethoven has painted a future where freedom and peace rein. No wonder then, that it is in this work that an earlier variation of a particularly famous melody can be heard, used later by Beethoven accompanied by the libretto »Freude, schöner Götterfunken (Ode to Joy)« in his final symphony »the Choral«. The same melody has been adopted by the European Union as the Anthem of Europe.

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The Choral Fantasy is not often performed on account of its uncommon instrumentation. Even more thrilling: alongside the Philharmonic State Orchestra of Hamburg, the peerless Beethoven interpreter Rudolf Buchbinder takes the seat of the piano, adding up to an illustrious evening.

Shostakovich also pays homage to the ideal of freedom in his 15 symphonies in total, although cleverly hidden between the lines owing to the controlling reality of a strict political system. The contrasting juxtaposition of the two compositions reveals how fragile freedom can be.