Beethoven's Emperor

Date and Time for this Past Event

• Thursday, Aug 21, 2025  7:30pm

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Details

Alessio Bax makes his TSO debut as the soloist in Beethoven’s monumental Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”. Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony and Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers complete this program built on themes of unrest and power.

Both the concerto and symphony were composed during periods of great unrest: the Beethoven when the Napoleonic wars arrived in Vienna, and the Shostakovich as Stalin’s power grew and the composer was in increasing danger.

Considered the greatest of Shostakovich’s symphonies, the Fifth is more classical in style than his earlier works, a direct response to criticism from Stalin. While it features a finale that at first appears triumphant, it is perhaps a satirical picture of the dictator.

Influenced by both a journal entry by Beethoven and the harmonic structure of his Seventh Symphony, Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers completes the program.