London Philharmonic Orchestra: Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony

Wagenaar Overture, Cyrano de Bergerac
Magnus Lindberg Violin Concerto No. 2 (world premiere)*
Beethoven Symphony No. 7

Jaap van Zweden conductor
Frank Peter Zimmermann violin
London Philharmonic Orchestra

Not until the upheavals of the 20th century would another composer conceive of a piece so controlled and driven by rhythm as Beethoven did in his Seventh Symphony. Here is a work in which you hear the controlling rhythms in almost every bar, whether in the propulsive energy of the outer movements or in the inevitable tread of the slow march. Beethoven’s most unusual, fascinating and bold symphony is preceded here by the world premiere of the Second Violin Concerto by Magnus Lindberg, just a month after the Orchestra’s performance of his first concerto for the instrument (11 November). Jaap van Zweden takes to the podium for this concert of bold orchestral statements.

*Commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.