Beethoven's Symphony No 9 with Southbank Sinfonia at Mayfield Festival

Is Beethoven’s Ninth the greatest symphony ever written? Many would say so. Indeed, the perceived greatness of the ‘Choral’ Symphony is the reason that Japanese-led CD technology of the early 1980s fixed upon 75 minutes as the maximum length that would be required on one disc. And in 2001, Beethoven’s handwritten score of the Ninth Symphony became the first physical piece of music to be added to the heritage list of the United Nations Memory of the World Programme.

Beethoven’s final symphony was commissioned by the Philharmonic Society of London, so Britain can lay claim to providing the impetus for the genesis of this highly original and powerful work. In the event, the symphony was premièred in Vienna and the vocal soloists were young (the Alto was 21 and the Soprano a mere 18 years of age). That youthfulness is mirrored in Mayfield’s performance, whose vocal soloists are all young Josephine Baker scholars. But at the 1824 première there were two conductors on stage, one of which was Beethoven himself! By contrast, Mayfield will only be fielding a single conductor, although Beethoven’s spiritual presence will be palpable, as it is in each and every performance of this epic work.

Following the Southbank Sinfonia’s performances at the 2012 and 2014 Mayfield Festivals they make a welcome return for the closing concert of the 2016 Festival.