Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 holds a unique place in the history of this genre, not only because it opens a series of symphonies amongst the most significant monuments of music’s history - and contains the germs of many of its components - but also because, due to this very fact, it represents a fundamental junction point between the tradition of classical symphony (Mozart, Haydn) – of which it keeps constitutive features -, and what we could name the Romantic aesthetic, that will be deployed after and from it.The year of its creation is even a symbolic one: 1800, the pivotal moment holding together two centuries. The Paris Opera OrchestraA coproduction Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis In association with ARTE France and M_MEDIA /ClassicAll TV With the support of Pierre Bergé, patron of the symphonic concerts of the Paris Opera Orchestra and of the Orange Foundation, patron of the audiovisual broadcasts of the Paris Opera With the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Vincent Massip © Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis - 2014Picture: © Jean-François Leclercq / OnP

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Cycle Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonie n°1

Beethoven’s Symphony  No. 1 holds a unique place in the history of this genre, not only because it opens a series of symphonies amongst the most significant monuments of music’s history - and contains the germs of many of its components - but also be

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven Cycle - Symphony No. 1

Beethoven delved into the symphonic genre rather late in his life. He was already 30 years old when he achieved his first Symphony (1800), after a long preparatory period. The reason is, he is then facing two imposing influences of the genre, Mozart and Haydn, and is not considering a frontal approach yet.His innovations are surreptitiously disturbing symmetries, intensifying dynamics and disrupting rhythms. His Symphony No. 3 (1805) will decisively settle the typical Beethovian style, something perfectly reflected in the title “Eroica”.This is the emergence of a different relationship to dramatic scansion of pure music and to the temporal development of “historical” powers (as we could qualify them).Between these two movements of the Creation of Symphony, the Symphony No.2 found the right balance, a miracle too often neglected: it overcomes the ambivalent reaction to tradition to better assert the freedom of an event yet to come.Maynard Solomon, who wrote major essays on Beethoven, described it as “a both retrospective and prospective work”. The Paris Opera Orchestra A coproduction Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis In association with ARTE France and M_MEDIA /ClassicAll TV With the support of Pierre Bergé, patron of the symphonic concerts of the Paris Opera Orchestra and of the Orange Foundation, patron of the audiovisual broadcasts of the Paris Opera With the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Vincent Massip © Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis - 2014Picture: © Jean-François Leclercq / OnP

Cycle Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonie n°2

Beethoven delved into the symphonic genre rather late in his life. He was already 30 years old when he achieved his first Symphony (1800), after a long preparatory period. The reason is, he is then facing two imposing influences of the genre, Mozart 

Ludwig van Beethoven Cycle - Symphony No. 2

During the fall 1802, Beethoven is living one of the most serious crises of his life, as tragically witnesses the Heiligenstadt Testament. Aware that his growing deafness will not be cured, increasingly isolated from the outside world of people and sounds, he contemplated suicide: “A little more and I would have ended me life, it was only my art that held me back. Ah, it seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had brought forth all that I felt was within me.”This artistic impulsion that saved his life gave birth to the Symphony No. 3 in E♭ major “Eroica”, op 55, on which he began to work in 1802, while the Symphony No. 2 was not achieved yet. He completed the work of his “Grande Sinfonia” during the summer 1803 and presented a first version in the fall.His friend and patron Prince Lobkowitz bought him the work’s exclusive rights for six months and offered him a rehearsal room and an orchestra in his palace. The Paris Opera Orchestra A coproduction Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis In association with ARTE France and M_MEDIA /ClassicAll TV With the support of Pierre Bergé, patron of the symphonic concerts of the Paris Opera Orchestra and of the Orange Foundation, patron of the audiovisual broadcasts of the Paris OperaWith the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Vincent Massip © Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis - 2014Picture: ©Jean-François Leclercq / OnP

Cycle Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonie n°3

During the fall 1802, Beethoven is living one of the most serious crises of his life, as tragically witnesses the Heiligenstadt Testament. Aware that his growing deafness will not be cured, increasingly isolated from the outside world of people and s

Ludwig van Beethoven Cycle - Symphony No. 3

The Fourth Symphony probably suffered a little from being caught in an imposing vice, between the Third and Fifth. That one carried real revolutionary forces; this one opened an era of titanic struggle with destiny, a literally unheard-of language whose path will be increasingly steep and lonely over the years.None of this, apparently, in the Fourth, where Beethoven seems to affirm that beyond the audacity of his experiments, he still possesses a perfect mastery of "classical" writing.Forgoing the frontal apostrophe, the opening Adagio develops an atmosphere of romantic mystery (not unlike the beginning of Mahler's First Symphony), with ample melodic lines and harmonious rhythm.The Allegro vivace, although structured by the opposition of a principal motive and two secondary motives arranged in canon, unfolds as if in a single stroke, a movement closed in on itself in an autonomy that Beethoven is increasingly renouncing.The Adagio of the second movement also possesses this melodic amplitude which gives the main theme, over eight bars, a cantabile character touching on the sublime, while the rhythmic structures gradually become more complex.The Scherzo recaptures the playful spirit of the first movement, playing with a kind of playfulness between binary and ternary rhythms; the Trio, of particularly simple structure, recalls the tone of the secondary themes heard in the first Allegro vivace. The Paris Opera OrchestraA coproduction Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis In association with ARTE France and M_MEDIA /ClassicAll TV With the support of Pierre Bergé, patron of the symphonic concerts of the Paris Opera Orchestra and of the Orange Foundation, patron of the audiovisual broadcasts of the Paris Opera With the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Vincent Massip © Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis - 2014Picture: ©Jean-François Leclercq / OnP

Cycle Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonie n°4

The Fourth Symphony probably suffered a little from being caught in an imposing vice, between the Third and Fifth. That one carried real revolutionary forces; this one opened an era of titanic struggle with destiny, a literally unheard-of language wh

Ludwig van Beethoven Cycle - Symphony No. 4

Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 represents a spectacular milestone in the history of symphonic form, after which it would be impossible to turn backwards. The composer once and for all rejects the static, architectural organization inherent of the classical symphony (where entirely independent movements are organized and harmonized with one another), and chooses instead to develop a purely dynamic conception of his work.These movements from minor to major, from shadow to light, from conflict to victory (metaphorically) are the most obvious traits of such a progression. But on a deeper level, the real challenge here is the emergence of a new form of musical time.In the classical period, music (as many other forms of expression) consisted in the submission of a material to an order of succession, but whose power of organization existed outside of time, or was above it: the logical discursive order, rhetoric being the absolute model.With Beethoven, a work’s musical time is structured as an interdependent and specific event, based on an internal logic as a vital development: Beethoven goes from an organization to an organism, from metric to dynamic. The Paris Opera OrchestraA coproduction Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis In association with ARTE France and M_MEDIA /ClassicAll TV With the support of Pierre Bergé, patron of the symphonic concerts of the Paris Opera Orchestra and of the Orange Foundation, patron of the audiovisual broadcasts of the Paris Opera With the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Vincent Massip © Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis - 2014Picture: © Jean-François Leclercq / OnP

Cycle Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonie n°5

Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 represents a spectacular milestone in the history of symphonic form, after which it would be impossible to turn backwards. The composer once and for all rejects the static, architectural organization inherent of the classic

Ludwig van Beethoven Cycle - Symphony No. 5

The Symphonies No. 6 in F major “Pastoral”, op 68 and No. 8 in F major, op 93 have been composed and premiered together, on 22 December 1808 at the Theater an der Wien, during a marathon concert that lasted more than 4 hours and was organized as a farewell concert to Vienna (Beethoven was supposed to leave the capital for Kassel, to join the court of Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia. But the project was cancelled at the last minute).The evening program included Beethoven’s “Great Symphony” in C minor and a Symphony titled “Memories of life at the countryside” in F major, in the reverse numerical order that the one we know today. But when the scores were published by Breitkopf &  Hartel in April 1809, they were given their final number. The Paris Opera Orchestra A coproduction Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis In association with ARTE France and M_MEDIA /ClassicAll TV With the support of Pierre Bergé, patron of the symphonic concerts of the Paris Opera Orchestra and of the Orange Foundation, patron of the audiovisual broadcasts of the Paris OperaWith the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Vincent Massip © Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis - 2015Picture: ©Jean-François Leclercq / OnP

Cycle Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonie n°6

The Symphonies No. 6 in F major “Pastoral”, op 68 and No. 8 in F major, op 93 have been composed and premiered together, on 22 December 1808 at the Theater an der Wien, during a marathon concert that lasted more than 4 hours and was organized as a fa

Ludwig van Beethoven Cycle - Symphony No. 6

The Symphony No. 7 's first draft is dated 13 May 1812. A week later, Napoleon called the German Princes gathered in Dresden to engage their troops in the attack launched against Russia. Like the Symphony No.3, called “Eroica” (first dedicated in 1802 to “the memory of a great man”, aka the First Consul Bonaparte who, when he became Emperor, was dead to the composer), or the Concerto for piano No. 5 (that Beethoven never chose to title The Emperor, and that he dedicated in 1810 to the Archduke of Austria instead, when Europe was swept by Napoleonic seaquakes), the Symphony No. 7 evokes historical great powers, much more than the alleged passion for Antonie Brentano, as it’s often said.The work would rest one year and a half concealed in Beethoven’s drawers, at a time when Austria was threatened by France. The Battle of Leipzig, in October 1813, gave the advantage to the Coalition armies, but French invasion kept on progressing in Russia.Johann Nepomuk  Maelzel – inventor of the metronome, the panharmonicon (an automaton able to play the musical instruments of an orchestra) and of a useless hearing aid for Beethoven- convinced Beethoven to take part in a charity concert for soldiers wounded in the Battle of Hanau. The concert took place on 8 December 1813.Beethoven conducted the Premiere of his Seventh Symphony, along with his Wellington’s Victory (composed for this panharmonicon instrument, but performed for the occasion by the orchestra), and Pleyel’s and Dussek’s Marches. The orchestra included some of the finest musicians of their time, with Johann Hummel,  Antonio Salieri and Ludwig Spohr.  The Paris Opera OrchestraA coproduction Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis In association with ARTE France and M_MEDIA /ClassicAll TV With the support of Pierre Bergé, patron of the symphonic concerts of the Paris Opera Orchestra and of the Orange Foundation, patron of the audiovisual broadcasts of the Paris Opera With the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Vincent Massip © Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis - 2014Picture: © Jean-François Leclercq / OnP

Cycle Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonie n°7

The Symphony No. 7 's first draft is dated 13 May 1812. A week later, Napoleon called the German Princes gathered in Dresden to engage their troops in the attack launched against Russia. Like the Symphony No.3, called “Eroica” (first dedicated in 180

Ludwig van Beethoven Cycle - Symphony No. 7

Beethoven composed his Symphony No. 8 between 1811 and 1812. As soon as his “Seventh” was completed, he tried, in vain, to compose a new concerto for piano, and re-used instead this initial work to create his "Eighth” in Vienna, on 17 February 1814.The 8th Symphony was born during Beethoven’s dark days. Beethoven is suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts, and is living a mysterious and painful liaison with his “Immortal Beloved” (letter from July 1812).The 8th Symphony betrays nothing of these difficult times; on the contrary, after the Seventh’s dramatic intensity, the Eighth's is more similar to the bright and serene Sixth (the “great in F”, as Beethoven called it, opposing it to his “little Symphony in F", though the Eighth Symphony was as equally good).The Eighth, through seems more reasonable at first sight, both in its structure and length. The Paris Opera Orchestra A coproduction Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis In association with ARTE France and M_MEDIA /ClassicAll TV With the support of Pierre Bergé, patron of the symphonic concerts of the Paris Opera Orchestra and of the Orange Foundation, patron of the audiovisual broadcasts of the Paris Opera With the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Vincent Massip © Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis - 2015Picture: ©Jean-François Leclercq / OnP

Cycle Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonie n°8

Beethoven composed his Symphony No. 8 between 1811 and 1812. As soon as his “Seventh” was completed, he tried, in vain, to compose a new concerto for piano, and re-used instead this initial work to create his "Eighth” in Vienna, on 17 February 1814. 

Ludwig van Beethoven Cycle - Symphony No. 8

Beethoven’s ninth and last symphony is at the same time one of his most ambitious projects, a decisive and formal event in the history of Western music and a symbol of the ethical-political duty that was once endorsed by arts in our culture.“Beauty alone confers happiness on all, and under its influence every being forgets that he is limited. No privilege, no autocracy of any kind, is tolerated where taste rules, and the realm of aesthetic semblance extends its sway.” And Beethoven is deeply aware of Schiller’s words when he chose the poem Ode to Joy to raise a song to a universal union of all beings in what would become the very first symphonic finale assigned to soloists and chorus voices. The Paris Opera OrchestraA coproduction Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis In association with ARTE France and M_MEDIA /ClassicAll TV With the support of Pierre Bergé, patron of the symphonic concerts of the Paris Opera Orchestra and of the Orange Foundation, patron of the audiovisual broadcasts of the Paris OperaWith the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Vincent Massip © Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis - 2015Picture: ©Jean-François Leclercq / OnP

Cycle Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonie n°9

Beethoven’s ninth and last symphony is at the same time one of his most ambitious projects, a decisive and formal event in the history of Western music and a symbol of the ethical-political duty that was once endorsed by arts in our culture. “Beauty 