Beethoven Project: Symphonies 1 + 3

Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann returns to kick off the first concert of the Beethoven Project, offering a feast of masterworks exploring Beethoven’s landmark journey through the symphonic form. Starting with the First Symphony, we meet the composer as he enters a more public phase of his career, venturing into the concert hall with a symphony—the kind of piece that defined (and was defined by) his teacher, Haydn. But already, Beethoven is up to his usual tricks. He's bending the rules with this piquant production. By the Third Symphony, he's his own man, confident in a vision that would usher in the Romantic age. The Third Symphony subtitled "Eroica"—heroic—is a revelation and a revolution. It’s more expansive and dramatic, mixing humor, grandeur, sorrow and exuberance. Music will never be the same.