Beethoven Festival II – Beethoven and Farrenc

Louise Farrenc was a prominent figure in 19th-century French musical life – as a composer, pianist and the first female Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatoire. At a time when opera and lighter entertainment music dominated in the French capital, Farrenc chose a different path, drawing her inspiration from German symphonic tradition, particularly Beethoven.

In her Second Symphony, this kinship is especially clear. The slow introduction directly echoes Beethoven’s Second Symphony, while the middle section of the third movement carries traces of the lightness of the Pastoral Symphony. Yet her music remains highly personal, with its elegant energy, clear structure and lyrical warmth.

Between Beethoven’s and Farrenc’s Second Symphonies, we also hear Beethoven’s third and final version of the overture to the opera Leonore. The music is a concentrated reflection of the opera’s narrative, moving from darkness and menace to triumphant liberation. With its dramatic progression – including a trumpet fanfare signalling rescue – it is one of Beethoven’s most charged orchestral works.

In this concert, part of the Beethoven Festival, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is joined by the Gävle Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Chief Conductor Christian Reif.