DIALOGUE AVEC BEETHOVEN

Presented by Orchestre de chambre de Paris (L-R-22-7047). « Beethoven was haunted by the idea of the hero – man or woman – alone in resisting tyranny. Such is Antigone, who chooses to die rather than violate laws to which even the gods are subject. Yet Simon Wills's new symphony does not merely recount the story of Antigone: Antigone's descent into « the loveless dust » involves a question at the very core of the work: « And now? » Life will go on. The intrinsically dramatic form of a symphony makes it possible to express this journey, which leads from darkness to a kind of light. The human voice – which rises from within the orchestra while remaining foreign to it – is here a bodiless, dancing, uncondemned instrument. Written for the bicentenary of Beethoven's death, Wills's Antigone enters quite naturally into dialogue with Symphony No. 4. Composed four years after the somber Heiligenstadt Testament – in which Beethoven spoke of his encroaching deafness and the wish to end his life –, it returns to an atmosphere brimming with charm and vitality. The program: SIMON WILLS Antigone, symphony for orchestra and voice World premiere, commissioned by the Orchestre de chambre de Paris for the bicentenary of Beethoven's death BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, op. 60 Cast: Thomas Hengelbrock, conductor Patricia Auchterlonie, voice Orchestre de chambre de Paris