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THE BEETHOVEN JOURNEY Igor Stravinsky Concerto in D Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 1 in C Major op. 15 Igor Stravinsky Octet Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor op. 37 Leader and PianoLeif Ove Andsnes
In May 2012, the MCO and Artistic Partner Leif Ove Andsnes embarked on their cycle "The Beethoven Journey": From 2012-2015, they will perform Beethoven's five piano concertos and his Choral Fantasy in more than 60 concerts in over 10 countries. The performances will be recorded and published on CD by Sony Classical.
"A real sense of enjoyment in playing, and the business of communicating that enjoyment to an audience," wrote The Guardian of the first CD from this cycle, which appeared in September and features the Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3. The BBC Music Magazine named the CD its Orchestra Disc of the Month in November and, shortly after the record's publication, BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and the Financial Times Deutschland selected it as CD of the Week.
This November, the Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3 can once again be heard live, with Leif Ove Andsnes as soloist and conductor of the MCO. The two-week trip will lead the ensemble through five European countries, with stops in Reggio Emilia (14.11.), Perugia (15.11.), Cologne (18.11.), St. Pölten (19.11.), Birmingham (20.11.) und Brussels (21.11.).
"Beethoven's music is for me the most human and deeply spiritual music there is", says Leif Ove Andsnes. "While it still shakes us today with its remarkably radical and modern qualities, there are other essential, perhaps even more important messages that Beethoven and his works communicate to us. He held a naively innocent belief in the value of music to humanity. He believed that changing the world is possible and that music is truth. This touches me deeply and is the motivating spirit behind this project."
The MCO expands its commitment to Beethoven and his music with its education project "Feel the Music", which addresses the topic of music and deafness – a topic that affected Beethoven increasingly over the course of his life. The first project took place in May 2012, in cooperation with the Scuola Audiofonetica in Brescia. "Feel the Music" will be continued as part of this tour in the Johann-Joseph-Gronewald Schule Cologne and the Kasterlinden Secondary School in Brussels.
