When Philippe Jordan took over as Music Director of the Wiener Symphoniker, he expressly stated that he wanted to programme a Beethoven cycle with the orchestra. And this is the right moment: “Beethoven is the Alpha and Omega of symphonic music. For every great orchestra, these symphonies are the true measure of quality,”said Jordan. Adding: “We will emerge from the Beethoven cycle at a higher level than when we began it.” 

The conductor clearly understands that Beethoven “opened the door to Romanticism. But when all is said and done, he still wrote in Classical style. His music is more open, more transparent and more discernable – hence, it is also more delicate than the more expansively orchestrated music of the Romantic period. The big challenge for me is its purity and clarity: This dimension is not too much and not too little.” The current generation of musicians has “been offered much insight into historically informed performance. We generally play less thickly, even in Beethoven’s case. With the exception of the Ninth, we will use a smaller string section. This makes us more agile and flexible.”This would also make it possible to play them according to Beethoven’s controversial metronome markings:“His markings are very playable for the most part.”

Philippe Jordan links Beethoven’s symphonies and Vienna to a personal memory: “The first time I heard the Wiener Symphoniker in concert was during a Beethoven cycle in the Musikverein in the 1980s. I am now extremely fortunate to be allowed to contribute further to this tradition – it is a genuine privilege.” He also derives inspiration from the orchestra’s relationship to Beethoven over generations:“Collaboration with these musicians is wonderfully fruitful – I am constantly learning from them. I hope that it will become a mutual give and take.” Beethoven’s music is “so rich, so complex, that one can – indeed, must – discover something new each time he approaches or engages with it. In working on Beethoven, one is constantly growing, which is among the things that make him so exciting.” 

Philippe Jordan intends to take audiences on a symphonic journey through the life of Beethoven, the human being:“He was an eternally doubting, eternally argumentative, eternally creating, eternally seeking person. This makes him both modern and timeless. This is the Beethoven who speaks to us today.”