Basel Chamber Orchestra

Two of Beethoven’s greatest scores share this bill: the epic Symphony n° 3, through which blow the winds of History, and the haughty yet lyrical Concerto for violin, entrusted to the incandescent bow of Isabelle Faust.

Composed in haste in 1806, Beethoven’s sole Concerto for violin is reputed to be a "love song", bathed in the joy of his secret betrothal to Therese von Brunswick. The first movement, with its four iconic strikes of the timpani, displays serene heroics. The second adopts the character of a Romance with variations. And the last, a Rondo, introduces a popular element. Almost its contemporary, the Symphony n° 3, the "Eroica", was famously dedicated to the "liberator of Europe", First Consul Bonaparte, in whom Beethoven saw the incarnation of the principles of the French Revolution. Napoleon’s subsequent decision to crown himself emperor would enrage the composer, who would expunge the dedication and substitute a "marcia funebre" for the originally planned triumphal march. Its four movements, notably the first, with its rich development, and the last, with its dense counterpoint, are characteristic of the emancipation of Beethoven’s writing, but it is of course the pointed rhythms of the Adagio that captivate the spirit, famously used for the funerals of Felix Mendelssohn, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

Musical director Giovanni Antonini
Basel Chamber Orchestra
Violin Isabelle Faust

^{Photo © Kemal Mehmet Girgin, feliXbroede}

Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto for violin and orchestra in D major, op. 61
Symphony n° 3 in E flat major, op. 55 "Eroica"