Work of the Week - Rodion Shchedrin: Beethoven's Heiligenstadt Testament
In 1802 Ludwig van Beethoven wrote a letter to his brothers Carl and Johann in which he described the effects of his advancing deafness. At the same time, he positioned himself in this letter as a human being and as an artist in a world that was becaming increasingly closed to him. It was only after his death that this moving document was found and named ‘Heiligenstädter Testament’ after its place of origin.
Beethoven’s lament serves Rodion Shchedrin as a starting point for his concert overture. Mariss Jansons and the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio are presenting the world premiere on 18 and 19 December in the Munich Philharmonie and on 20 December in Cologne. Beethoven's Heiligenstadt Testament is part of a series of works on Beethoven commissioned by the Bavarian Radio which began with the world première of Jörg Widmann’s orchestral piece Con brio in September.
Maestro Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra perform the US premiere of the work at Carnegie Hall, New York on March 15.
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