Sound Off

The final Symphonic Hits of the season is upon us, and in fact, it's the final week of the Indianapolis Symphony Orcehstra's Classical Season.  Next week, summer officially begins with the Indianapolis Symphony's move out to the Prairie.  For this last concert, we're hearing Beethoven's final two symphonies led by Music Director Emmeritus, Raymond Leppard. 

These two works are as different as they could be.  The 8th Symphony is bubbly and delightful (it even lacks a slow movement), and imitates the simpler and more elegant style of the 18th century.  The ninth is large, brooding and groundbreaking with its introduction of a chorus into the symphonic world.  Ten years separate the premiers of the two symphonies (1814 and 1824), and during this interval, Beethoven's life is in turmoil.  This stretches over the time from his obsession with the often mentioned Immortal Beloved (some of you might remember the 1994 movie of the same name), to a nasty custody battle over his nephew, as well as through many illnesses.  This tumultuous life (not to mention his difficult personality) along with his deafness, has made him one of the most discussed and written about composers in history. 

As a reflection of this, this week the ISO has partnered with book clubs from across Indianapolis to read the book Beethoven's Hair before coming to hear our performances.  The book simultaneously follows Beethoven's final years, as well as the journey of a lock of Beethoven's hair which falls into the hands of two Beethoven enthusiasts with the unforgettable names of Che Guevara (no, not the Cuban revolutionary), and Ira Brilliant.  They have the lock DNA tested and the book describes their findings in terms of what they discover about Beethoven's health and cause of death.  It's a fascinating book for anyone interested in learning more about Beethoven the man, and just one example of the volumes of great stuff that has been written on Beethoven.  For a closer look at the Ninth, I would also recommend this book, The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824, which chronicles the premier of the symphony (something I will be talking about quite a bit at Sound Off this week) as well as the conditions in Vienna and around Europe when this seminal work was written.  We hope to continue this partnership with local book clubs next year, so stay tuned for more info. 

This weekend's performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday night at the Hilbert Circle theater and 7 p.m. at the Palladium in Carmel.  Hope to see you there.