Four European orchestras broadcast 200^th anniversary of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

Petr Popelka joins orchestras in four European countries to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of Beethoven’s majestic Symphony No. 9.

On 7 May, 200 years to the day since the premiere performance of the magnificent and ground-breaking piece in Vienna, four major European orchestras played the piece in unison, broadcasting one movement each live on ARTE. Leipzig’s Gewandhausorchester led by Andris Nelsons opened the evening with the first movement. The Orchestre de Paris followed in the second movement, under the baton of Klaus Mäkelä in Paris’ Philharmonie. The third movement was performed by the Orchestra del Teatro della Scala and conductor Riccardo Chailly in Milan, while Popelka led the Wiener Symphoniker and Wiener Singakademie in the famous final movement with its choral eruption.

The broadcast attracted 1.2 million viewers on ARTE, and live audiences at the concert in Vienna rewarded the musicians on-stage with a long standing ovation.

You can watch the broadcast on ARTE: