After the anniversary of the National Youth Orchestra in 2019, the next outstanding anniversary follows in 2020: the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven!
All work phases of 2020 will be dedicated to the music of the Bonn-born composer - in whose hometown the National Youth Orchestra is based. During the winter tour in January, Beethoven's 5th symphony was performed, followed by his 3rd symphony in April (cancelled due to Covid 19); our musical year should finally culminate in the summer with the world-famous 9th symphony, in collaboration with the World Youth Choir and renowned soloists (also cancelled due to Covid 19).
These extensive projects were made possible by the Beethoven Jubilee Society BTHVN2020 (and other partners) and are a collaboration of the National Youth Orchestra with the Dirigentenforum and the Funding Projects for Contemporary Music of the German Music Council.
in January 2020
In which context does an anniversary for Beethoven 2020 stand? Is homage paid to the untouchable work of art and its master on the high pedestal or does Beethoven have more to offer than sophisticated entertainment for educated citizens? Is it permissible to question the work and the artist, and is his art still relevant and critical after almost 250 years? All these questions are incorporated into the programme. Two important, political works by Beethoven were combined with "Tenebrae" (1966/67) by Klaus Huber, a representative of so-called "critical composing" (for which he received the Beethoven Prize of the City of Bonn in 1970) and with a commissioned composition ("Rush") by the Cologne composer Sergej Maingardt, who regards music as his art form to reflect rapid global change. The conductor of the first work phase in 2020 was Lothar Zagrosek, who led the National Youth Orchestra for the third time after 1993 and 2014.
Ludwig van Beethoven - Fidelio-Ouvertüre E-Dur op. 72
Klaus Huber - Tenebrae for big orchestra (1966-67)
Sergej Maingardt - "Rush" for big orchestra, amplified Ensemble und Electronic (comissioned piece)
Ludwig van Beethoven - Sinfonie Nr. 5 c-moll op. 67
12. Jan Bonn, Aula der Universität
13. Jan Köln, WDR-Aufnahme
14. Jan Koblenz, SchoolSession im Eichendorff-Gymnasium
16. Jan Aschaffenburg, Stadthalle am Schloss
17. Jan Lörrach, Kultur- und Veranstaltungszentrum Burghof
18. Jan Verona (IT), Teatro Ristori
19. Jan Udine (IT), Teatro Nuovo Giovanni
20. Jan Udine (IT), School Session und Maribor (SLO), Narodni Dom
Conducter
Lothar Zagrosek
David Bui, Valentin Egel, Aruytun Muradyan (assistance of Dirigentenforum)
Soloists
Tal Botvinik (guitar)
Krisztián Palágyi (accordion)
National Youth Orchestra of Germany
in April 2020 (canceled due to corona pandemic)
This work phase focuses on Beethoven's deafness. This tragic stroke of fate, the loss of his hearing, did not stop the passionate composer from making music and composing. Deaf and hearing-impaired people can also perceive music via visual and tactile stimuli. This is how the National Youth Orchestra was supposed to work and make music within the Easter tour with students of the Education and Counselling Centre for the Hearing-Impaired Stegen. One focal point was the 3rd Symphony, which Beethoven composed at a time when his hearing loss was already far advanced. The collaboration with deaf musicians illustrates the impressive circumstances of the work's creation and should enable the audience to hear Beethoven's 3rd Symphony from a completely new perspective. In this project, it was important to us that an exchange takes place about how differently music can be heard, perceived and lived. Mark Barden experimented together with the students and their music teacher, Christine Löbbert, from Stegen and, with his composition "the weight of ash", created a work that would present us with the literally unheard. Christoph Altstaedt is not only the founder of the "Young Sound Forum of Central Europe" and involved in the work of young musicians, but also conducts numerous professional symphony orchestras such as the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony.
Brett Dean - Testament. Music for Orchestra (2008)
Mark Barden - "the weight of ash" (comissioned piece)
Ludwig van Beethoven - Sinfonie Nr. 3 op.55 „Eroica“
in Baden-Baden:
Joseph Haydn - Oboenkonzert C-Dur
Ludwig van Beethoven - Sinfonie Nr. 5 c-moll op. 67
13. Apr Baden-Baden, Bénazetsaal im Kurhaus
14. Apr Osnabrück, OsnabrückHalle
15. Apr Köln, WDR-Aufnahme
17. Apr Köln, Philharmonie
20. Apr Berlin, Philharmonie
21. Apr München, Gasteig Carl-Orff-Saal
Conducter
Christoph Altstaedt
Kirill Petrenko (only Baden-Baden)
Soloists
Adrian Pereyra (electric guitar)
in Baden-Baden: Alrecht Mayer (oboe)
National Youth Orchestra of Grmany
Students of "Bildungs- und Beratunsgzentrum" in Stegen (hearing loss)
Christine Löbbert (music teacher of the students)
in August 2020 (canceled due to corona pandemic)
The Summer Tour 2020 featuring visionary masterpieces was to take the National Youth Orchestra to the climax of the BTHVN2020 year. With the World Youth Choir as a partner, the tour was to go through Germany, Amsterdam, Italy, Austria and Russia. Highlights would have included guest performances in Amsterdam at the BankGiroLoterij Zomerconcerten and the final concert in Moscow. The third Beethoven project is dedicated to international exchange and understanding, in the spirit of Beethoven's 9th Symphony and in keeping with the collaboration of the World Youth Choir, whose singers come from 42 different countries. Such collaboration between interpreters from different countries and continents promotes understanding and exchange, which is also reflected in the symbolism of the symphony: Schiller's "Ode to Joy" as the goal and finale of the Ninth. The conductors in the summer would have been Tan Dun and Jörn Hinnerk Andresen. Tan Dun's commissioned composition "Choral Concerto: Nine" provides music for the "Jiu Ge" (Nine Chants), which were written by China's first historically traceable poet figure Qu Yuan.
Tan Dun - Choral Concerto: Nine (comissioned piece)
Ludwig van Beethoven - Sinfonie Nr. 9
08. Aug Bonn, Maritim Hotel
09. Aug Berlin, Konzerthaus (Young Euro Classic)
10. Aug Einbeck, PS. Speicher, Halle
11. Aug Lübeck, Musik- und Kongresshalle
13. Aug Amsterdam (NL), Concertgebouw
14. Aug Wiesbaden, Kurhaus
15. Aug Weikersheim, TauberPhilharmonie
16. Aug Kassel, Kongress Palais Stadthalle
18. Aug Sterzing/Vipiteno (I), Pfarrkirche
19. Aug Wien (A), Votiv Kirche
20. Aug Moskau (RUS), Tchaikovsky Concert Hall
Conducters
Tan Dun (Bonn, Berlin, Lübeck, Amsterdam)
Jörn Hinnerk Andresen
Soloists
Iris Hendrickx (soprano)
Jo-Pei Weng (alto)
Xavier Moreno (tenor)
Johannes Schendel (basso)
National Youth Orchestra of Germany
World Youth Choir
in September 2020 (canceled due to corona pandemic)
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the campus in 2020, a special, extended campus was planned, which would give the participants the opportunity to train and sharpen their musical understanding and ear on very different levels through the study of important composers. At the same time, the project saw itself as an ideal complement and continuation of the third project phase of the Beethoven Crescendo. Campus 2020 was to pick up this thread and place Beethoven, as the great German innovator of 19th century music, alongside a kindred spirit of the 20th century: Karlheinz Stockhausen. While Beethoven was considered an innovator and pioneer in the 19th century, especially in his later works, Karlheinz Stockhausen can be regarded as a musical pioneer of the 20th century. Both composers were visionaries of their time, crossing genre boundaries, breaking the prevailing rules of art music and sometimes causing offence with their structural and harmonic concepts.
György Kurtág - … quasi una fantasia … op. 27/1
Zeynep Gedizlioğlu - comissioned piece and world premiere
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Gruppen für Orchester
05. Sep Köln, Staatenhaus (5 pm und 8:30 pm)
06. Sep Köln, Staatenhaus (11 am)