Ludwig van Beethoven's ‘Eroica’ focuses entirely on the French Revolution and its values of ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’. Originally composed for Napoleon Bonaparte, Beethoven decided immediately after Napoleon's self-coronation that the tyrant was not a historical hero and not a suitable dedicatee for the symphony, which itself represents a revolutionary act in music history. Then as now, these values – on which our modern democracies are based – are under pressure, making it all the more urgent for Stegreif to spread the recomposition of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony throughout Europe and inspire people. The Stegreif Orchestra's tour of Estonia, with a total of three concerts in Pärnu (April 29th), Tallinn (April 30th) and Tartu (May 1st), promises to be a great start.
freeEroica is about revolutions – both historical and musical – and the heroes who brought them about. Without sheet music, without a conductor and without chairs, the orchestra strives towards them, searching for small upheavals along the way – even if these consist “only” of entering the concert hall without shoes or taking the audience on a journey from 18th-century France to the present day. In this way, the Eroica is brought to life anew through performance, improvisation and recomposition. Broken bars, oversized props and disrupted orchestral arrangements make Beethoven's quest for the new and unexpected tangible in a work that, as part of the centuries-old canon, no longer breaks with today's listening expectations.
picture: Frederik Ferschke
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