Ravinia_2018_Issue_3_Week

BY DENNIS POLKOW

Beethoven’s

symphonies meet

at the crossroads

of popularity

and vitality

Ode to

Ludwig

“

’

when I invited a friend of mine to a

concert that I was conducting—he was not a musician,” Marin

Alsop recalls. “He asked, ‘Well, what’s playing?’ And I said,

‘Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.’ He said, ‘Oh yeah, I heard that

one.’ That’s when I realized: No, no, no, you really haven’t heard

it unless you can hear it with fresh ears, as though it were the

first time it was ever being played! With Beethoven, if people

can feel the surprise of the new in a performance, then I’m

thrilled.”

RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 9 – JULY 22, 2018